Volume 14, Number 5
Aug 1990

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Preservation Supplies & Equipment

• The National Archives routinely runs photoactivity tests on seams and envelope stock that they buy for photographic housings, including fiche envelopes. They will not test products for other institutions, but will share information on the products they have tested. Call Connie McCabe at 202/501 5360.
• A clever way of dispensing minimal amounts of chlorophenol red to test pH of paper is suggested by Hubert Leurs in Le Journal, ARQ (journal of the Association of Quebec Bookbinders) for Spring 1990: in a Rapidograph pen, the kind used for drafting. He recommends getting the fluid from Fisher Scientific in Montreal (473 ml for $31.69).
• Protection against theft of library books is offered by the Chameleon System, developed by Knogo Corporation. Instead of a metal strip it has Electro Thread targets, hair-thin metallic strips that are virtually imperceptible and can be placed on CDs, records, tapes, films, and can be part of a barcoded label laminated to a book cover. Contact Knogo Corporation, 350 Wireless Blvd., Hauppauge, NY 11788 (800/645-4224; in NY 516/232-2100).
• GripTites, Inc. offers Pink Pull Fasteners, a cotton tie that is made snug around the book by sliding the fastener up like the ring on a Western string tie. A replacement for rubber bands, which stain, distort the material held, and break. Contact GripTites Inc., 67 Country Place Lane, Rochester, NY 14612-1445 (716/392-8637).
• Acid-free continuous bond computer paper is offered by Highsmith, W5527 Highway 106, PO Box 800, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0880 (800/558-2110). There are two kinds, C23A-89848 and 89849 (2�/sheet, no more expensive than acid paper), and C23A-89951 & 89952 (4�/sheet). Unfortunately, the less expensive kind is being dropped. 20 lb., pH 7.5.
• The University Products has a separate catalog, "Archival Quality Materials for Conservation, Restoration & Preservation," which lists materials both for the conservation lab and the preservation administrator. In the front, it names the independent labs that test their products Inside: monel and stainless steel staples, Abbey pH Pens, acid-free marbled papers, Water Alerts, archival inks, Reemay, hygrothermographs, archival corrugated board, enclosures of all sorts. Contact University Products, 517 Main St., PO Box 101, Holyoke, M 01041-0101 (800/6281912; in MA 800-336-4847; FAX 413-532-9281).

For Book Conservation & Binding

• The reversible PVA adhesive mentioned an p. 57 last year is made by William Adhesives and is called WS 3978. CRI calls it "medium speed!' and Williams calls it "fast setting." Both say it is fully reversible in water, but neither says whether it is a copolymer or homopolymer. It is available from Conservation Resources International, 8000 H Forbes Place, Springfield, VA 22102 (703/321-7730).
• In the early 1970s, Henry Morris withdrew his paste papers from the market, because they were not selling well enough. Now he is offering eight new/old designs based an Italian and French woodcut papers of the 18th and 19th centuries, in a wide range of colors, for three-piece bindings for books up to 9" x 12". Price: 20-99 sheets $1.50 per sheet, 100+ $1.25 per sheet. Order from Henry Morris, Bird & Bull Press, 2 Jericho Mountain Rd., Newtown, PA 18940 (215/598-3066).
• The chairman of the ATF-Davidson Company published a sad farewell to the company's customers, dealers and operating people in the November 1989 Graphic Arts Monthly. The Company was $4 million in debt, and had to be sold.
• Jack Bendror says he is selling his EZ Press Jr. for $1900, and that the University of Delaware has ordered one. They are more efficient than the cast iron 19th century copy presses, because they were designed for book repair. He also says that the homopolymer adhesives used for adhesive binding in Germany since the mid-1930s have stayed flexible even though they are about 107 plasticizer. The plasticizer has not migrated out. The LBI is doing a study of homopolymers vs. copolymers that will be ready this fall. But he can furnish a copolymer if people want it: Ultraflex 5052.
• Colophon Book Arts Supply (3046 Hogum Bay Road N.E., Olympia, WA 98506; Don Guyot, prop.) is now a stocking agent for the linen conservation tapes from Bole Hall Mill. Write or call (tel. 206/459-2940).
• A fiber optic repair kit has been developed for use in conservation treatment. The unit comes with the light source, magnifying lens with raking light attachment and a 6" x 9" light panel which can be used inside the textblock of bound books. Call or write Dick Steinberg, 11640 Woodbridge St. #203, Studio City, CA 91604 (818/508-4456).
• The Chicago Area Conservation Group toured the Midwest Freeze-Dry, Ltd.'s facilities at the Midwest Center for Stabilization and Conservation (7326 N. Central Park, Skokie, IL) in January. They can also deacidify and fumigate.
• There is a company whose business is moving libraries: National Library Relocations, Inc. (78 Mall Dr., Commack, NY 11725, 516/543-2821). It uses the specialized book cart method. Its ad in the January Wilson Library Bulletin, P. 143, announces that it can also dust and do conservation. (But you have to watch out for those places that price competitively on their conservation, as this one claim to.)

Conservation Equipment & Supplies

• A "Preservation Pencil" that provides warm/hot moisture without steam is available from Preservation Equipment Ltd., Shelfanger, Diss, Norfolk IP22 2DG (tel. 0379 651527, Fax 0379 650582). L395 + VAT. [From PCN May 1990.1
• Humidity instruments. There are new types on the market, and the usual kind is getting more expensive. The May WAAC Newsletter has descriptions for four new types on p. 10-12, with much detail and informed comment. The sources are Omega Engineering, Elan Technical Corporation, Young Environmental Systems and Rustrak Instruments. Linda Fagen (University of Utah Library) passed on information about "Smart Readers" ($600-$700), ACR stick-on loggers for temperature and relative humidity, + software (call 800/ 663-7845). And the AIC Newsletter ran a notice from David Lee Golglazier (conservator, Old Sturbridge Village) about a monitoring product called the DataBear that works like a "paperless hydrothermograph." It is a datalogger that downloads to a Macintosh computer. See the May issue of the AIC Newsletter, p. 13, or call Mr. Leon Langan, Langan Products, Inc., 2660 California St., San Francisco, CA 94115 (415/567-8089).
• A fumigation bubble that is presumably the one usually called the Rentokil Bubble is now available in this country and ready for use with carbon dioxide. The distributor is B & G Equipment Go. (PO Box 130, Applebutter Lane, Plansteadville, PA 18949, 215/766-8811). Winterthur Museum has me. It costs about $7500, or did last December, and has been r the B & G Mini Fumigation Bubble.
• For conservators who like to mix their own B-72 adhesive and use it from tubes, Stephen Koob of the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery recommends Unipac Supply Go. as a source of tubes, though he does not say whether they are lined or not (see discussion of tubes in the Stone/Morse article on paste storage in the Dec. issue). They are at PO Box 98026, Pittsburgh, PA 15227. They stock over 30 sizes; price about $30-$40 for the minimum order, 144 tubes. [From Mar. Conservation News.] Mr. Koob also mentions Conservation Materials as a supplier of aluminum tubes.
• Tim Barrett has a paper research facility at the University of Iowa, and is selling the papers produced there, which range from extremely light weight through medium to heavy weight, in natural or earth tones. He can send samples. Profits go to support of research, scholarships, etc. He will be doing paper testing, including accelerated aging, there at the facilities, which are in Oakdale. Address: Paper Facilities, Art Building, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (319/335-4410).
• Taylor Made Co. is again offering its chart guide to plastic film, which gives tests to identify each one. One copy is $1.00; 2 for $1.25; etc. They also have a catalog on Mylar Type D pouches. Write Taylor Made Company, PO Box 406, Lima, PA 19037. The proprietor, "Tuck" Taylor, used to work for duPont and can answer technical questions about materials sold.
• Barcham Green & Co., the paper company, still supplies paper though it no longer makes any. A new one is K Tissue, a waterleaf intermediate between L2 and M tissue that can be ordered in sheets or rolls from England (Barcham Green, Hayle Mill, Maidstone, Kent, Ma5 6XQ, England). In a year or so it may be available from a U.S. address.
• An American supplier for "Ageless" July issue, p. 66) is Conservation Materials, 1165 Marietta Way, Sparks, NV 89431 (702/331-0582, Fax 702/331-0588). Information and samples are available from Yukio Kondo, Product Manager, AGELESS, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical America, Inc., 9th Floor, 520 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022 (212/752-4620, Fax 212/ 758-4012). [From July ConservatioNews, P. 9.1
• Pliantine and Pliantex are now available in the U.S. through Conservation Resources International (703/321-7730).
• Steamjet tools. Three models from two manufacturers have been advertised and/or discussed in the newsletters. They are:
• Solomon Steam Generator, a product planned but never brought to market by Ademco Ltd. Unsafe, to be redesigned.
• Solomons Pencil Steam Generator, manufactured and sold by Conservation Resources (UK) Ltd. Safe. �990.
• Ministeam Scalpel, from Atlantic Paper Go., 2 St. Andrews Way, Bow, London E3 3PA. �ll35.
• Archivart, formerly Process Materials, is now part of Heller & Usdan, Inc. Archivart will provide the same product line and continue to develop new products for exhibition, storage, and conservation of historic and artistic materials. The new address is Archivart, Division of Heller & Usdan, Inc., 7 Caesar Place, Moonachie, NJ 07074 (201/8048986). Abby Shaw is still with them. They also have an 800 number: 800/333-4466.