Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Dec. 27 2012

December 27, 2012

Historical Object Photography

My conservation work on the Kentville Railway Roundhouse objects is nearing completion of the cleaning phase with only a few objects left to work on.  I have started taking photographs to upload to the Kings County Museum collections database called www.novamuse.ca.  The museum is now closed for the winter (opening again in mid-March 2013) so this gives me an opportunity to add all the roundhouse objects information onto the database and include higher resolution photographs which I took on Thursday December 20.  Conservators refer to historical object photography as record photography.  Our goal is to produce photographs that allow viewers to see the objects as much as possible in their natural state that shows their true colours, shape, identifying marks, and condition and for researchers to zoom in for as much details as possible for such things as maker's marks.  Since we do not have a true photographic studio we have used what equipment we have on hand as donated to the museum or what photographers are willing to lend us.  The photograph below is the set up I used for this purpose.  The essential and basic pieces of equipment as shown are: a DSLR camera, a tripod, a light box, spotlights, and a scale (not shown here).  The light box in this case provides a white background on all sides as well as top and bottom.  The light box is a portable one that is easily assembled from a folded up state.  

Record photography light box set up

I found that 4 spotlights worked best: two at the top and one on each of the left and right sides.  All are angled towards the middle where the object will be placed.   The spotlights are not ideal but work reasonably well for our purposes.  It would be best to use a type of light that is diffused.  That is, not so focused, but we had none available at this time.  The spot lights are set up to not touch the sides of the light box because they get quite hot.  You can see in this photograph how the object is placed in the middle with white sides all around and soft light throughout.  It is best to remove all other sources of light such as overhead lights and from windows which can reflect off the objects.

Here are some of the guidelines I use when taking record photographs of historical objects:

1. use a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera where possible although some point and shoot cameras do work well.  I have used a Canon PowerShot with good results,
2. most objects can be photographed at about a 45 degree angle,
3. use the largest sized JPEG setting or RAW setting but remember that RAW takes up considerable space,
4. use custom white balance (photograph the white space anywhere in the light box and use it to set the white balance),
5. position the lights to highlight the object with as little reflection as possible,
6. use macro setting for close up of identifying marks if there are any,
7. use a scale nearby but not touching the object,
8. angle the object if it highlights any markings otherwise they should be straight vertically or horizontally,
9. take at least four photographs: one from the top the other from the bottom both with and without the label.

Below is an example of the photographs I took of a power line insulator.  Each one has the label shown beside it where the accession number can be used to do a search on www.novamuse.ca to get additional information.  I usually take the same pictures without the label to put on the database.  Having the label here simply makes it easier for anyone to do follow up on research if they are starting from this BLOG.  In this case the accession number on the label is 2007.012.021

Power line insulator - top

Power line insulator - bottom

Do-it-yourself Tip: In the past I have made a small light box when a commercial one is not available.  You can use a large box placed on one of its long sides.  Cut openings on the two narrow sides and top (the other long side) and cover the openings with white tissue paper.   I have then used ordinary lamps (desk lights) shining through the tissue paper as lighting.  Place a sheet of white paper large enough to cover the back and curve onto the bottom.  Place the object in the middle of this to take your photographs.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Dec. 18 2012

December 19, 2012

Metal Objects Conservation....continued

In a previous post I showed how I clean up corrosion products (rust) and other material from metal objects that were found in soil under moist conditions.  I mentioned that I consider this as a two step process in that once cleaned (Step One) these objects should be stabilised (Step Two) to prevent further deterioration due to the possibility of high relative humidity.  Of course, the cleaning process has the side effect of exposing more of the metal surface to moisture and oxygen thereby promoting the accumulation of corrosion products (rust).  I use conservation grade wax to coat the objects to provide a barrier to contact with moisture and oxygen combination thus ensuring that they will last a considerable time into the future.  Not all objects would be treated this way but certainly most smaller objects can be.  Particularly those with high iron content since they are susceptible to rusting.  It is not practical to do this with larger objects as you will see by the techniques I use.  I prefer to use Renaissance Micro-crystalline Wax since it is pure and safe to use on most objects plus the added benefit of being developed by the British Museum for use on a wide range of historical objects such as furniture, leather, ivory, onyx, marble, metals, and so on.  For non-metals, it is typically applied as a thin layer and then buffed with a soft cloth.  For metals, it is often used over top of an anti-corrosion undercoating.  For our purposes in a small, community museum setting it is not always affordable to purchase anti-corrosion undercoating so simply applying a layer of this wax will serve to protect the object at minimal cost.  I use heat sparingly applied to the wax and object to help smooth it into a thin, uniform layer.

Back of padlock with tools and materials used to apply wax.

Before heating, I apply a thin layer of wax to the object with a small, coarse bristled brush. I then apply minimum heat via a hair dryer or heat gun to melt the wax and brush it again to remove lumps and ensure low spots and all the surface is covered in a thin layer.  The heat source must be carefully applied to ensure that it is not too hot to handle.  In the photograph to the right you can see the tools and materials I used to treat the padlock.  I placed the object on a wooden cutting board as a neutral material which would not readily conduct the heat.  I used a paper towel (above the brush) to clean excess wax off the brush.  I find that in a short time the object becomes quite warm to the touch.  Keep in mind that most metals expand when heated and contract when cooled so it is best if the objects to be treated are comprised mostly of iron rather than an alloy since different metals expand and contract at different rates.  Alloys for the most part would be handled differently.

In the photographs below I show the railway padlock I worked on with the wax applied before it was melted and then after it was melted so you can see the difference.  The brush is the right tool to use since it aids in getting right into all the depressions and allows for us to smooth out the excess wax around all the bumps, cracks, edges and depressions.

Padlock with wax heated and smoothed

Padlock with wax applied before heat

The edges, rivets, depressions, lettering, and contrasting colours are all still visible after the wax is applied and smoothed by applying heat.  The object on the right is now protected from moisture, oxygen, oils from handling, pollution and so on.  It can be safely packaged, stored away, and maintained in this condition for many, many years.

Conservation Tips: Treating simple metal objects can be done with minimal time and cost as shown above.  Reversing the process is relatively simple by carefully reheating the object and wiping off the wax with a soft cloth.  I suggest wearing gloves such as oven mitts that will protect your hands from the heat applied and using a thin board as a working base.  As with most objects it is always a good idea to consult with a trained conservator beforehand who can assess the object, determine the best treatment, and provide an estimate of the cost.  The above treatment has been done successfully on railway spikes, a railway valve wheel, a padlock and these archaeological objects: hand made nails, a key, a short length of chain, a shoe buckle.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Dec. 11 2012

December 13 2013

Metal Object Cleaning....Continued

One of the larger metal objects found at the railway roundhouse site in Kentville Nova Scotia is a wheel that was likely used to open and close a valve.  Perhaps, even, as part of a piece of steam equipment.  It came to the museum labelled as a brake wheel but the diameter is 22.5 centimetres which makes it quite a bit smaller than most brake wheels I have seen in photographs.  There are other clues to its possible usage that I will point out later.  It was heavily crusted with corrosion products (rust) so my effort was, as with other metal objects, to remove any loose material in preparation for applying a layer of wax to seal off the surface from moisture.  All material removed was saved in a sealed glass container.  Also, as before, the hope was to make clear any makers or other marks on the object.  There are some raised, embossed material possibly letters near the centre.  Of particular interest is what appears to be some small pieces of textiles (cloth) on the outside of the wheel and around the nut on one side of the short, threaded shaft running through the middle.  The opposite end of this shaft appears to be broken with a crack visible.  Was a cloth used to turn the wheel and torn or was the object thrown away along with some cloth?  We will likely never know.  Below are photographs of both sides of this object:

Wheel before cleaning with cracked bolt in centre

Wheel before cleaning with rusted nut in centre

Wheel material cleaned off and tools used.

The surface of the wheel had a sheen of grey and red corrosion some of which was very soft and easily came off with a toothbrush with hard bristles.  Quite a lot of larger crusted material was easily pried off with a scalpel.  There were a couple of bead shaped bumps to the right of the nut in the centre which were not removed.  They are reminiscent of material sprayed about during arc welding which I have observed in the past while helping my father with some of his welding projects.  The photograph to the right shows the tools and the material removed.  The textile (cloth) pieces can clearly be seen.

Wheel centre close-up showing faint lettering.

One of the benefits to this type of cleaning is the ability to bring out any marks found on the object.  In this case I was able to show the word Crane which is a maker of all sorts of equipment and tools plus the word Open with what looks like a line with a very faint arrow at the end.  The photograph to the right shows these faint marks.  Certainly, these marks imply it is a valve wheel rather than a brake wheel since some brake wheels usually have the words ON and OFF in different points along the wheel.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Dec. 4, 2012

December 7, 2012

Glass, and Ceramics Cleaning......continued

Butter dishes with maker's marks

I continued the cleaning process on mixed objects of different materials this week.  The ceramics consisted of 5 butter dishes which just needed wiping with a soft cloth and Orvus soap mixed with distilled water followed by rinsing with distilled water and a different soft cloth.  The photograph to the right shows all five dishes displaying the makers marks. These objects are in relatively good shape but with some red, rust like staining patches and a few scratches.  The rust patches are clearly visible on the dish in the lower left of the photograph.  The flip side of these dishes have no markings.  Although they appear to be very simple and of little importance, they, in fact, give us a glimpse into the purchasing practices of the railway at the time and into the manufacturer.   All show that they were made in England and two show that they were supplied by Nerlich & Co. This is an import company founded in 1858 in Toronto by a German immigrant to Canada.  My research shows that they imported goods from Germany originally but expanded to include goods from England after 1908 and wholesaling throughout the maritimes and most of Canada after 1891.  We can see several different makers marks with four showing the company name "Grindley England",  "W.H.Grindley & Co" and "Grindley Hotel Ware" while one other simply says "Made in England".  These different marks represent different batches very likely purchased at different times. W.H. Grindley & Co (Ltd) was established in 1880 at Tunstall in Stoke-on-Trent England and remained in business until 1991 when they went into receivership and were bought out by Woodlands Pottery.

Bottle main body with crack

Bottle top with material deposit

Bottle interior material removed

I cleaned a large brown bottle which had some material deposited inside.  The first photograph above shows the main body of the bottle with a large crack in the middle before it was cleaned.  The second photograph above shows the top of the bottle before it was cleaned with material deposited along the neck and top of the main body.  The photograph to the right shows the material removed.  Again, I carefully removed whatever would come loose inside by using a shish-kabob stick and Q-tips attached to the end of it.  I then rinsed the inside and out with Orvus soap and distilled water followed by rinsing with distilled water.  I used several Q-tips to wipe off any leftover material from the inside.  The outside was wiped with the soap mixture and a soft cloth and then rinsed with distilled water and a different cloth.  I decided to keep the material removed in a separate, sealed container because it appears to have some material that may give a clue to what it originally contained. By keeping this material it would be possible to do testing to determine what it is at a later date if needed.  There are no makers marks or copyright marks of any kind on this bottle.  It is likely that it held alcohol of some kind, possibly wine.

Conservation Tip:  Material cleaned (removed) from an object should be stored in a sealed container made of inert material such as glass to preserve the contents in as original condition as possible.  In the example above I used a glass container with a glass top and a rubber washer to hold the glass stopper in place.  The rubber washer is not exposed to the material inside.  It was purchased at a local dollar store and cleaned with the soap mixture, rinsed with distilled water, and dried before use.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Nov. 27, 2012

November 27, 2012

Metal Objects Cleaning

Metal objects are challenging to clean.  There are several examples as part of the railway roundhouse collection that I can prepare for long term storage and display.  Two of them at least at first appear particularly difficult but in the end are not so hard to do.  In this post I will show you how this can be done.  There are two steps to this process: 1) cleaning and 2) preventive maintenance.  I will concentrate on the cleaning in this post and discuss the second step in a later post.  The metal objects all have some corrosion products (rust) in various degrees.  When I say difficult I mean that they are heavily corroded.  Why clean them at all?  It is to reveal any markings such as makers marks, copyright marks, registration numbers and so on.  All of which will help us to date them and determine how they were made and used.

Keep in mind that I will avoid the use of chemicals in the cleaning process and prefer to use mechanical means.  Therefore, the tools I use in cleaning these are as follows:

• brushes: usually a toothbrush with stiff bristles for removing dust and smaller material,
• picks: usually toothpicks and shish-kabob sticks for scraping (to avoid scratching),
• scalpel: usually used to pry off loose material

Padlock - before cleaning

Padlock - after cleaning, closeup

The object on the left is a padlock used by the railroad. We know from other examples in much better shape that there is usually embossed lettering on the key hole cover which runs vertically down the centre of the main body of the lock. It is obscured and unreadable in the photograph on the left. By using a scalpel I was able to carefully remove large chunks of corrosion material to reveal the marking as shown on the right in a close-up photograph. I used the toothbrush to remove dust and other smaller, loose material to make the lettering even more visible. The embossed letters "CPR" vertically down the key hole cover can clearly be seen.

Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) on November 13, 1911 leased the operations of the Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR, incorporated on October 1, 1894) effectively taking ownership, although DAR maintained its own identity for most of its existence.  Therefore we can date this padlock to sometime after 1911.  Eventually all (or most) padlocks with the letters DAR were replaced with CPR lettering.  There is also a registration number on the back of the hasp (not shown here).

The photograph below shows the material removed, the tools used (toothpicks and shish-kabob stick not shown), and the end result - a cleaned up padlock.

Conservation Tips: Be very careful when using sharp tools such as a scalpel (besides the ever present safety issue) by keeping in mind that it is very easy to scratch the metal object.  I carefully used the scalpel to pry material loose not to scrape it.  That is, I insert the sharp edge in cracks and pry it up, leveraging the blunt edge.  The photograph above shows several very large pieces that came loose.  Certainly, it is more time consuming to do it this way but I find that a combination of prying carefully followed by brushing with the toothbrush works best and alternating this back and forth as many times as needed for the desired result. The wooden picks can be used for scraping but again, be careful.  In this example, the corrosion was generally very loose and relatively easy to remove.  Consult a conservator to determine how far to go with the removal of corrosion who will remind you that scratches may result if you go too far.  The next step is to coat the object with museum grade wax to prevent further corrosion by sealing it off from contact with moisture.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Nov. 20, 2012

November 20, 2012

Glass Objects Cleaning

There were several bottles recovered from the railway roundhouse demolition that required cleaning to remove soil and sand deposits both inside and out.  I show an example in this post of what can be done to prepare these for storage and display.  The photograph below, on the left is of a Watkins bottle with the phrase "Container Made in USA" on the bottom underside and "Watkins" in raised letters vertically on one side.  There is a lot of soil and sand mostly on the inside in hard to reach places but also on the outside around the neck, bottom, and raised lettering.  The challenge was to clean up as much of that material as possible.  This prepares the bottle for storage so loose material will no longer fall off due to handling and makes it more presentable for display purposes since the raised lettering and any other embossed marks become more visible.  The following is a list of tools and materials used in the cleaning process:

• several wooden toothpicks and a shish-kabob stick
• one tooth brush with soft bristles
• several Q-tips
• two soft cloths, cotton
• one nail file
• 1/4 teaspoon Orvus soap paste
• one cup distilled water

Watkins bottle before cleaning

Watkins bottle after cleaning

I used toothpicks to gently pry all the loose soil and sand around any crevices such as at the neck, the bottom and around the raised lettering.  Toothpicks are used because they will not scratch the surface of the glass and the sharp points can reach into very small crevices.  I used Orvus soap and distilled water (discussed in previous posts) with a soft cloth to wipe off the exterior followed by a rinse with distilled water and a different soft cloth.  To get the material from the inside I first used a wooden sish-kabob stick to get into as many of the interior cracks and corners to loosen up the soil and sand.  I then used q-tips attached to the end of the stick to reach the hard to reach sloped parts just inside the top.  The q-tips are cut in half in the middle, attached to the stick and bent back so that when you push them through the neck they will open up enough to rub around the inside loosening the material found there.  The loose material is dumped out of the bottle and then the inside is rinsed with distilled water.  The last step is to rub all around the interior with more q-tips to remove any sheen of dirt or other bits left behind.  I did not use a bottle brush for the simple reason that this is a square shaped bottle.  Bottle brushes are more effective with round bottles.  The photograph below shows the end result of the cleaning.



The photograph below illustrates the tools used in this example and the material removed.  You can see the brown stains on the Q-tips and the pile of sandy soil removed is in the middle.


Bottle cleaning tools, nail file at bottom.

Conservation Tips: I do not use metal tools or abrasive materials of any kind to clean glass objects.  There is a chance that the metal or abrasives could scratch the glass surface.  The wooden picks will not scratch the glass and the nail file is used to sharpen the ends of the wooden picks (they will get dull over time) to reach into crevices to dislodge dirt and to make them easier to fit the picks into the Q-tip ends. 

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Nov. 13, 2012

November 13, 2012

I took a break from cleaning ceramics and glass this week to start entering catalogue data onto the Kings County Museum's collections database.  Getting as much information on the museum's objects as we can loaded into the database is very important for anyone wishing to do historical research.  Fortunately, all of the objects donated to the museum from the railway roundhouse demolition came with a catalogue sheet describing the object along with measurements, condition, possible dating, and a few other pieces.  Over time I will add to this information by doing additional historical research, taking high resolution photographs (called record photography by conservators and other professionals), talking to railway objects collectors, visiting other museums with railway collections, and so on.  My objective is to date everything and provide additional resources for those interested in learning more.


We were happy to be able to visit a local collector, Don Foster, arranged by the museum's curator, Bria Stokesbury.  Don has been collecting railway objects for very many years.  He has an amazing collection that follows the development of railways in Nova Scotia.  He has a caboose in his yard that was in use from 1912 until 1976 and which he has done a lot of restoration work.  Because it is mostly wood it requires regular maintenance.  He is a passionate collector with a strong interest in promoting railway history.  Even more importantly to us, he was able to answer all of our questions concerning our railway roundhouse objects and put them into context through his own collection.   We brought with us a box of metal objects that we knew very little about, that we thought were not in good shape and which we could offer to him.  There are two photographs of the objects we brought him that I wrote about in a previous post on October 16.  Here is the link: Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Oct. 16, 2012  (It will open in a new window).

There were several important things he was able to tell us about these objects.  The small bolts with square heads as shown in the photograph below were very important to him to be able to use in repair of his caboose. These bolts are now more difficult to find as they have been replaced in modern times with hex head bolts.

Square- headed wood bolt from old rail car. 

The tool shown in the photograph below was a mystery to us and Don was able to identify it.  It is used to open the bearing box on the axle of a rail car (a small door on the side near the top of the wheels) and then to adjust, remove and/or replace the packing material (with the flat, curved end) within this opening.  Prior to friction bearings it would have been used to make sure that the packing material was in place and oiled properly to ensure it will not overheat.  Overheating could cause serious damage and injury.  It is an object that I will clean up by removing as much of the rust on it as I can and then stabilize it with a thin layer of museum grade wax.

Bearing box maintenance tool in Kings County Museum

Don had a similar tool in his collection and below is a photograph with me holding the museum's and Don holding his.  Don's is somewhat longer, has been cleaned up and the handle is of a slightly different design but it has the same features such as a small tab in the middle of the handle that is used to pry the small door open and a wider, flat, curved end that is used to adjust the packing material.  Thanks to Don we can now make this a show piece in the museum's collection. The likely age of this object is circa 1912 but, I will be confirming this date with future research.  There is a possibility that it could have been hand made.

Comparing bearing box maintenance tools.