[Nhcoll-l] Paraloid B-72 applicators?

[Carrie A. Eaton]

Hi Nate,
We use HDPE dropper bottles for our B72, kind of like this<https://starbond.com/products/empty-glue-bottles>. The ones we order also have an optional needle tip insert for smaller cracks and joins. It makes cleanup a lot easier and if/when your B72 becomes a "brick" you can just swirl some acetone in there to loosen it up and get it back to the desired consistency. A safety pin does wonders if the fine or regular tips every get dried shut. I rarely have issues with caps getting glued on and it allows us to mix up various consistencies and have smaller bottles available for use in prep and conservation.

I do keep a few natural-hair small size paintbrushes on hand as well for consolidating or top-coating if necessary. Since they're natural hair, you can clean them with acetone and not turn them into little melty stubs (a lesson learned many years ago the hard way!).

cheers,
Carrie

Carrie Eaton, Museum Curator (she/hers)
UW Geology Museum
1215 West Dayton Street
Madison, WI 53706
608.262.4912
www.geologymuseum.org<http://www.geologymuseum.org>
instagram @uwgeologymuseum
facebook.com/uwgeologymuseum

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Shoobs, Nate
Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 12:30 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Paraloid B-72 applicators?

Hi all,
I use Paraloid B-72 to repair shells that have been broken, and to prepare shell surfaces for labeling in cases where the material doesn't hold ink well.

While the repairs it makes are beautiful (often I can't even tell that the shell was broken in the first place), a great frustration of using B-72 is how messy it can get, and how quickly the solvent evaporates (which changes the concentration).
I have the resin pellets and mix up new B-72 in acetone, and currently we apply the B-72 with little brush-bottle applicators supplied by University Products with their pre-mixed paraloid.

However, it only takes a few uses before the threads on the brush-bottles get gunked up, requiring acetone and a lot of grip strength to reopen.

Is there any clever solution for this?

Also -- has anyone tried "fineline applicators" with b-72 before?
Best,
Nate

--
[The Ohio State University]
Nathaniel F. Shoobs
Curator of Mollusks
College of Arts & Sciences Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
Museum of Biological Diversity, 1315 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212
614-688-1342 (Office)
mbd.osu.edu<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/mbd.osu.edu__;!!Mak6IKo!MotlVgsH6Xi4oqg7bMHdxEi-RnsHDGT6qcSkx9Hy4xcPJlVknwpokWqZ7tOl6AkrG4ncFX70MAmNN_woLZkf5TM$>
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