Two questions regarding Gluteraldahyde

How long does it take gluteraldahyde to harden gelatin? Chris has said that
using a ratio of 8ml glute to 1 liter gelatin delivers a hardened result by
the time it dries. But what if drying is accelerated? If I am coating
glass and a use a hair-dryer, for instance, I can dry the gelatin in a
minute. But how long should I wait before applying another coat, etc.?

Will adding marble powder to a glute/gelatin solution affect the hardening
action? I've been playing around with different sizing options and I've
tried Katherine's method of mixing gelatin and gesso. I've got iffy
results, and I'm thinking it might be because the commercial gesso I was
using has an acrylic binder. Traditional gesso is composed of chalk or
marble powder and hide glue. I'm thinking that hide glue must be very
similar to gelatin in composition. So, a stretch perhaps, but it would seem
that putting the marble dust into gelatin would result in something very
similar to traditional gesso. But, again, my results have been hit-or-miss,
and the emulsion seems to absorb water, swell and float away. Is there any
reason that gluteraldahyde would not work in this environment?

Thanks

Keith
Received on Wed Feb 15 10:59:46 2006