Posted by Jon Van Harpen on January 03, 19102 at 17:03:20:
In Reply to: Re: What do I use to preserve "shipwreck wood"? posted by J on January 03, 19102 at 16:10:12:
: : {For the curious and nervous....} I have a couple of boards, given to me this summer by Marine City {officially and with their blessing...as they were dredging along the Rivers edge and pulled these up and were in the process of bashing them into little pieces to jam them behind what is now their new sea wall, when I saw them and asked for them...O.K?..now that we are clear on THAT!} I saw someone on here complaining about a piece of shipwreck in Copper Harbor, crumbling due to lack of preservation.....and glycol? was mentioned.
: : What is that? Is that is best thing I can use to preserve my boards? They will be outside {they aren't very pretty, having been partially burned at one time I think}. Any constructive ideas would be appreciated.
What you are talking about in the Cooper Harbor is polyethonalglycol common automotive antifreeze is based on this but has other additives that are not practical for this application. Submerged wood and iron are some of the hardest materials to conserve. Once wood is submerged for a extended period of time the water actualy replaces the monecules of the wood, when this dries the molectual structer is changed. When polyethonalglycol is used it is ether soaked or sprayed on over a long period of time depending on size of the material, the sulution actualy repaces the water in the wood. This is an expensive and time consuming process. But a good process for long range preservation. The other Gentelman suggested a method that would seal the wood from the outside, the wood actualy retain some of the water inside it, this is probably the way to go for your particular needs and budget. As he suggested the sooner the better, keep the wood wet or at least damp until you get to applying the sulution. Cathrene Singley published a book about the preservation practices that where used on the Rockway wreck at Grand Haven. This is a science that has a long way to go and every type of material has its own preservation problems and needs. When a professional curator looks at an artifact for preservation he/she decides on preservation plan that is reversable should new technology bring a better practice. S.C. Johnson Co. also has some products they are trying if you wanted more information I would contact them.