Re: gelatin hardener

Chris, I think it's hard to beat glut in those aspects.

The compounds I'm looking at are bis-epoxide compounds that began
commercial production relatively recently, and the compounds that are
lower in toxicity compared to more common bisepoxides. They don't give
off fumes but otherwise they are more tricky to handle than glut (for
example, you'll have to keep the hardener in viscous solution rather
than dilute stock. They slowly react with water and many other
solvents and lose hardening capacity...).

The reason I'm looking at bisepoxides is because they can probably
harden chemically modified gelatins that cannot be hardened by glut,
as well as other non-gelatin polymers that I use as a binder blend.

From: "Christina Z. Anderson" <zphoto@montana.net>
Subject: Re: gelatin hardener (Re: APIS, hydroquinone hardening)
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 09:05:46 -0500

> Always interested in low toxicity stuff with students. Of course,
> when I was taught gum we were using formaldehyde and glyoxal,
> certainly not low toxicity stuff, so I don't suppose glut is any
> different. Montana in the winter is not conducive to sizing outdoors
> (one of the myriad benefits of living in South Carolina for two
> years).
>
> I sized a batch of paper this past week outside with glut
> (hydroquinone just came in the mail), and the other thing I like
> about it so much is how smooth it is as a hardener. It almost feels
> acrylic-y. And it is awfully quick, usable as soon as dry. So if
> you discover a hardener even better than glut I'd sure like to be in
> the know.
Received on Sun Jul 24 04:32:01 2005