Framar
WOW Framer
We have been discussing adhesives lately, especially in the recent threads about arrowheads. In one of these threads I mentioned my new favorite adhesive which is gel medium.
It was pointed out to me that I was confusing the terms water-proof and water-soluable in my description of gel medium as water-proof. I have come to the conclusion that gel medium is BOTH! Or perhaps there is another term for its unique properties.
Well, I just did a little experiment. I used gel medium to glue a rock to a piece of matboard. The rock was polished agate (very high up on the hardness scale) and the matboard was Crescent ragboad.
I let this dry until the gel medium had turned clear. Then I plunked it into a jar of water for a couple of hours. (notice how scientific I am!)
When I reached in to fish it out, the matboard came out by itself; now that is is dry it is amazingly unscathed. The glob of gel medium was attached to the rock but it had turned from clear back to milky.
This milky glob peeled right off the rock, leaving no trace. Now I must point out that this milky glob is in no way "adhesive" any more - those properties have been lost in the drying (curing?) process. But it did soften enough to be peelable.
So - here is my question. Wouldn't gel medium be an appropriate substitute for the dreaded silicone in those increasingly rare instances when sewing, lacing, mylar or other C/P techniques are not suitable?
Would gel medium cause harm to items like medals, coins, and yes, arrowheads?
As has been pointed out here ad naseum - not every customer wants to pay the higher price for a complete C/P work-up. Wouldn't gel medium be a safe compromise???
It was pointed out to me that I was confusing the terms water-proof and water-soluable in my description of gel medium as water-proof. I have come to the conclusion that gel medium is BOTH! Or perhaps there is another term for its unique properties.
Well, I just did a little experiment. I used gel medium to glue a rock to a piece of matboard. The rock was polished agate (very high up on the hardness scale) and the matboard was Crescent ragboad.
I let this dry until the gel medium had turned clear. Then I plunked it into a jar of water for a couple of hours. (notice how scientific I am!)
When I reached in to fish it out, the matboard came out by itself; now that is is dry it is amazingly unscathed. The glob of gel medium was attached to the rock but it had turned from clear back to milky.
This milky glob peeled right off the rock, leaving no trace. Now I must point out that this milky glob is in no way "adhesive" any more - those properties have been lost in the drying (curing?) process. But it did soften enough to be peelable.
So - here is my question. Wouldn't gel medium be an appropriate substitute for the dreaded silicone in those increasingly rare instances when sewing, lacing, mylar or other C/P techniques are not suitable?
Would gel medium cause harm to items like medals, coins, and yes, arrowheads?
As has been pointed out here ad naseum - not every customer wants to pay the higher price for a complete C/P work-up. Wouldn't gel medium be a safe compromise???