Peachey Conservation

April 1, 2013April 1, 2013

New Tool! The Finger for Conservation

The Finger® in use conserving a plate from C. Collodi’s Pinocchio, Gift Edition, 1920.

Many conservators, in a variety of specialities, like to make their own tools. However this can be time consuming and distract the dedicated conservation professional from the more necessary tasks of endless paperwork. Last year, I introduced the now ubiquitous SPIT™. After a year of making prototypes and incorporating suggestions from testers, I feel I have finally perfected a new essential tool: The Finger®.

The idea came to me late one night when I was using a Yad to read my Torah, and I’m not even Jewish. The small size of the finger, and more importantly finger nail, would be ideal for the mechanical removal of surface accretions. FIngernails have an ideal flexibility and hardness. But a regular fingernail is often much too large for the types of delicate paperwork that conservators generally engage in, and is inconveniently attached to the extreme outer ends of our fingers. The Finger® is a delicate and versatile tool for use on the most sensitive of substrates. It has a pleasing weight and a gentle warmth, and will pay for itself after the first successful treatment. Above all, it will be a constant reminder that the conservator is subservient to the objects of cultural heritage that we treat.

The Finger® is made from hand carved swiss pear wood, 6″ (152mm) long and .6″ (15mm) wide at the palm. .25 oz (7 g). The nail is replaceable, contact me for current prices, though there is often a three month delay while I grow a new one of adequate length.

THE FINGER® (ITEM# FU) $495.00

March 26, 2013March 26, 2013

It Is Not His Book. Huh?

Samuel Daniel, The Whole Works of Samuel Daniel, London, 1623. Collection David Kasten.

Seeing someone’s name, or a list of names, in a book is not unusual. It is still practiced to indicate ownership, prevent theft, and possibly to add value depending on the name. Names when accompanied by dates are often useful for establishing family history and can aid in dating bindings and repairs.

Earlier books sometimes posit the locus of identity to the book itself; “I belong to Peachey” for example. Sometimes a name is followed by the phrase, “this is my book”. This has always seemed a bit strange to me—why would someone sign a book that wasn’t theirs? Doesn’t the name alone signify ownership?

In this case, perhaps it doesn’t. Did Thomas Sedgewick sign a book that wasn’t his? The writing appears to be from the same hand; the ink color and degree of corrosion are quite similar, and the handwriting looks similar to me, especially the heavy “k”‘s at the end. Another possibility is that after reading the book he no longer wanted to be associated with it. Or maybe someone else added the second line, to deny Thomas Sedgewick ownership, or simply as a joke?

March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Scalpel for Book and Paper Conservation

In book and paper conservation, there are many times when a substance or material needs to be mechanically removed or scraped off. Standard scalpels with replaceable blades are ok for cutting, but less than ideal—even dangerous—for scraping. The blades are very thin, flex unduly, and are easy to break where they slide into the handle. The blades often stick out wider than the handle, making them uncomfortable if you choke up close to the cutting edge. Older surgical and dissection scalpels are useful, but often are flat or hollow ground which is not great for slicing thin layers and scraping.

This precision instrument has a convex bevel which helps it to skate along the surface of a substrate, lessing the change of digging into it. The shape of the cutting edge allows it to be comfortably held either at a very low angle or a higher, 45 degree one (similar to holding a pencil). This knife can be used for delicate lifting or separating adhered materials, and is very useful for removing encrusted glue on spines. Depending on the angle you hold the knife, the cutting edge can be a barely above the surface, and the knife rests on the rounded side bevel.

The convex bevel creates a very durable edge that can be used for chipping hard glue, etc. The steel is softer than my paring knives, making it less brittle and easy to strop. The thread wrapped handle and carved hardwood handle make it comfortable for working long periods of time, even if your hands start to sweat.

The sides of the blade are carefully rounded to make it comfortable to hold and well balanced to use. The high carbon steel is hardened to between Rc 50-55, is 1.5 inches long (40mm) and 1/16 inch (1.5mm) the hardwood handle 5.5 inches (140mm) long. The knife is about .5 inches wide at the widest part. Overall length about 7 inches (180mm) and weighs .7 oz (20g), though the weight varies and depends primarily on the species of the wood handles. The current batch has Lignum vitae handles.

ITEM # WS: $175.00