The following emailed response from Rachael Perkins Arenstein is being posted for the benefit of the C2C community:
I am going to disagree with Val on this one. While B72 is the go to adhesive for a lot of things, I would not use it for skin and specimens in this context as the lack of flexibility, is an issue especially for a piece that will receive a lot of handling. For these kinds of repairs we would use BEVA 371 or the mixture of Lascaux adhesives Val recommend. While we want the C2CCare list to be as useful to people as possible, this is the difficultly in recommending treatment on a forum in that these adhesives aren't necessarily easy to come by in small amounts.
Rachael Perkins Arenstein
A.M. Art Conservation, LLC
917-796-1764
Rachael@AMArtConservation.com
www.AMArtConservation.com
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Sharon Fickeissen
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor
Senior Library Conservation Technician
Hagley Museum & Library
Wilmington DE
sfickeissen@hagley.org------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2022 15:40
From: Sharon Fickeissen
Subject: Re-attach specimen tail
I'm posting the following emailed response from Valerie Tomlinson for the benefit of the C2C community.
Hi Sharon, Carson,
I saw your posting on the Nhcoll listserv, and someone had replied to you recommending Paraloid B72. That was a perfectly acceptable response.
I could also mention that the Lascaux acrylic emulsion adhesives have more flexibility to them, and so are often used with skin repairs like with your situation.
B72 has the best aging properties. You would most likely make it up yourself in Acetone or ethanol, to whatever concentration you wanted (greater than 20% for adhesive purposes - although it can be up to 80%). It is stiffer and more brittle.
Lascaux you would most likely use 303 (formerly 360HV), or 498, or a mixture of the two. I believe it is the 303 that is more flexible, but remains tacky, while 498 is less flexible but dries without tack (but I could have that backwards). It is a water-based acrylic emulsion, so easier to use and non-toxic, but can water-stain or have other water damage with water sensitive items.
It's up to you which one you prefer to use. You could do small tests on waste bits of old taxidermy if you wanted, to see which one you liked best.
Hope that helps.
Val
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Sharon Fickeissen
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor
Senior Library Conservation Technician
Hagley Museum & Library
Wilmington DE
sfickeissen@hagley.org
Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2022 10:35
From: Sharon Fickeissen
Subject: Re-attach specimen tail
Carson, SPNHC recommends posting your question to their Natural History Collection listserv (Nhcoll-I) which you can sign up for here.
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Sharon Fickeissen
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor
Senior Library Conservation Technician
Hagley Museum & Library
Wilmington DE
sfickeissen@hagley.org
Original Message:
Sent: 12-08-2022 12:47
From: Sharon Fickeissen
Subject: Re-attach specimen tail
Hello Carson!
As the acting C2C Care community monitor, I'd like to thank you for posting this question to the community! I have already reached out to The Society for The Preservation of Natural History Collections via Facebook messenger and will also be contacting two C2C colleagues knowledgeable in natural history collections. In the meantime, here are some resources that may be helpful:
Insect & Invertebrate Specimen Repair Glue/Adhesive Comparison Guide
Adhesives for Veterbrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History: An Illustrated Wall Chart - pdf attached
Lascaux Adhesives in Object Conservation: Three Practical Case Studies on Leather, Skin, and Entomological Specimens - pdf attached
Vertebrate Paleontology - Preparation and Conservation
As always, if any community members have advice or recommendations, please pass them along!
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Sharon Fickeissen
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor
Senior Library Conservation Technician
Hagley Museum & Library
Wilmington DE
sfickeissen@hagley.org
Original Message:
Sent: 12-08-2022 11:10
From: Carson Moore
Subject: Re-attach specimen tail
Greetings,
One of our raccoon skin education specimens was mishandled and the tip of its tail was pulled out. The educator in charge of the object asked me if I knew of a way to re-attach it, and all I could think of was some sort of glue. Does this community have a glue they recommend for this type of material, or another method to re-attach it? This is used for educational programming only, and it is meant to be touched. We know damage and wear is inevitable with education collection materials, but would like to extend its usage.
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Carson Moore
Collections and Exhibit Manager
Kaleideum
Winston-Salem NC
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