[Nhcoll-l] Suitable finishing for wooden insect-cabinets

Thu Sep 25 04:26:30 EDT 2014

Simon,

Wood gets treated with preservatives either to make it more hard-wearing (in the case of wooden floors), or to stop it being attacked by fungi or insects, or to prevent of from greying when exposed to UV light. Most of the above are problems mainly in outdoor applications of wood. Assuming your entomology store is dry, has a low relative humidity and no problem with insect pests - which are all required for the sake of the collection, never mind the storage cabinets - I can see no reason why your cabinets need a finish at all. Eucalyptus wood has a naturally high content of polyphenols, which makes it naturally resistant to mould growth and insect attack.

Had you bought in old cabinets I would certainly consider ensuring that you are not introducing insect pests from the previous owner into your collection, but that should not be a problem with new wood.

While wood naturally emits volatile organic compounds, including acetic acid, which is a problem in certain types of collections (e.g. causing Byne's disease in mollusca and egg collections), this does not appear to be such a problem in insect collections. Nevertheless, as you rightly say, most wood preservatives would exacerbate the problem of VOC emissions from the cabinets, and we are always looking for ways of lowering such airborne pollutants in museum stores and galleries.

You will have your reasons for buying eucalyptus cabinets and without knowing the circumstances I do not want to criticize your decision, although metal cabinets with sealed doors would be my preferred option if there was an opportunity to buy new units for the insect collection.

Kind regards
Christian

Christian Baars
Senior Preventive Conservator
National Museum Cardiff
Cathays Park
Cardiff CF10 4NP
+44 (0)29 2057 3302
christian.baars at museumwales.ac.uk<mailto:christian.baars at museumwales.ac.uk>
Twitter @NMWPrevCons

From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Grove, Simon (StateGrowth)
Sent: 23 September 2014 05:49
To: Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Suitable finishing for wooden insect-cabinets

We have recently commissioned a local workshop to make us some insect-cabinets, from local hardwood (eucalypt).  The wood is currently unfinished, so we now need to decide on what to coat it with, primarily for durability but also to a lesser extent for aesthetics.  With the long-term integrity of our insect specimens in mind, are readers aware of any do's or don'ts when choosing what type of product to apply, regarding the likelihood or otherwise of any fume/gassing/acidity/hydrocarbon leakage issues?  Are there any pitfalls in using linseed or other oils, for instance, instead of stains or varnish?  Are water-based products any better or worse than oil-based ones?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

Dr Simon Grove | Senior Curator, Invertebrate Zoology, Collections and Research Facility |
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery | Department of State Growth
5 Winkleigh Place, Rosny 7018 | GPO Box 1164, Hobart 7001 Tasmania, Australia
Phone:: (61 3) 6165 6905 | Personal mobile (not paid by TMAG): 0428 958 509
www.tmag.tas.gov.au<http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/> I Email: simon.grove at tmag.tas.gov.au<mailto:simon.grove at tmag.tas.gov.au>  |  Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/tasmuseum>  |  Twitter<http://twitter.com/tasmuseum>
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