[Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: Stabilizing cannel coal

Thu Jun 20 11:21:51 EDT 2024

Thanks Dirk.  I will look into it, and thanks for identifying the section of interest.  One of my challenges is that my library is located in a lab 2 miles distant from the museum!  I cannot check those sources easily- but plan on going there later today and will do as you suggest!
Gretchen.

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Dirk Neumann
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2024 1:36 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: Stabilizing cannel coal

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Hi Gretchen,

just out of curiosity and not that I would be (obviously) an expert on fossils, but have you considered looking into stone conservation, specifically stabilisation of slate?

A quick search (in German, sorry) brought up this 340-pager on slate conservation (link<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.dbu.de%2fOPAC%2fab%2fDBU-Abschlussbericht-AZ-32059_01-Hauptbericht.pdf&c=E,1,C9rOT0jr-7iXaGWnEAFrlvpYOUVAAfQ06YLaDI8BM1_-Tn-BaNv6MwXft4XaQDmFwnSOEFspreUvc5U4U-4TqlH_Gv8Dcl9xj9xy6Wqdvl6Mmxtd5aT-cScGaw,,&typo=1>), and unstable (weathering) stones is a key issue for stonemasons specialised in conservation. There is probably more out there, and quite a bit of conservation research as well, but obviously coming form a different direction (conservation of listed buildings/objects). The underlying (chemical) issues for the deterioration however are probably very similar.

Section 2.8 includes a brief summary on stabilising slate by immersing it in a epoxy-bath and basically soaking the slate with a conservation-grade epoxy. Basically two pages that might be worth running through a translator ... ?!?

Just a thought ...

With best wishes
Dirk

Am 19.06.2024 um 00:28 schrieb Mariana Di Giacomo:
Hi Gretchen,

I agree that using epoxy is a tricky thing, as it will set and then it's (almost) impossible to remove. I like the idea of experimenting with stabilizing the back with Remay or something of the sort and B72. It all comes down to size. If these are specimens that are not incredibly heavy, then you may very well succeed. Another option could be to prepare a thick B72, so you can "embed" the pieces onto a mold and then cut the mold out (or release it with an acetone chamber).

I'm happy to continue to chat offline if you want to send me photos.
All the best,
Mariana

Mariana Di Giacomo, PhD
Natural History Conservator, Yale Peabody Museum
Associate Editor, Collection Forum, SPNHC

On Tue, Jun 18, 2024, 17:00 Anderson, Gretchen <AndersonG at carnegiemnh.org<mailto:AndersonG at carnegiemnh.org>> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,

I just received this question from my vertebrate paleontology department and am looking for thoughts on how to better stabilize these fragile specimens.  The specimens are fragile and some are extremely thin.

A Research Associate in VP would like to use a marine epoxy<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.jbweld.com%2fproduct%2fmarineweld-syringe&c=E,1,5e13j2rjV1aDjpgkh0ZDqkmr1M6S2tV345WYuMlJb979E0xqnblsmAFpfvQ6F9vLyVRwkQD2dzdq3GFl8B_TGMb-xWOau6tho8t5xviJ38b6d9Lrw7vRKki9FWM,&typo=1> to stabilize thin pieces of cannel coal that contain impressions of fossils. His practice is to coat the back of the fossil with a thick layer of the epoxy. He mentioned that this system had been used at the Field Museum.  The specimens are studied by either making a latex peel of them or a CT-scan to yield a positive of the impression. The plan to go forward is to use CT scanning rather than latex peel, when possible. The RA champing at the bit to stabilize a few specimens.

I am concerned about continuing the use of epoxy and would much rather use a method that is more conservation friendly.  I would like to suggest a different way to do this, perhaps using a material like remay or a light carbon steel fabric with Paraloid B-72, lining the back of the fossil to provide improved stability.  This would be reversible. We are currently testing this on some scrap pieces of the coal.
What are the standards for preparing this kind of fossil? Does anyone have experience with this type of epoxy? If so, how stable is it?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Gretchen Anderson

Conservator

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Andersong at CarnegieMNH.Org<mailto:Andersong at CarnegieMNH.Org>

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