Finishing and... Insects.

[Luke Maddux]

I've made an insect case. One of those picture frames with relief between the glass and the backing so that you can pin insects onto the backing and then put them on display in the frame behind the glass. You know the ones.

Anyway, my plan is to finish the inside of the case the same as the outside. Likely four coats of oil blend finish, fully cured, and then finished off with a top coat of carnauba wax.

So, aesthetics aside, I'm looking for any feedback about the way in which this finishing technique could affect the bug which will ultimately be preserved in the case. Any reason to think that this will degrade the bug? Preserve the bug?

Any kind of feedback appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Cheers,
Luke

[Master Splinter]

Possibly not the best finishing strategy.... - http://www.morana-rtd.com/e-preservationscience/2011/Tetreault-05-01-2011.pdf

[Luke Maddux]

Possibly not the best finishing strategy.... - http://www.morana-rtd.com/e-preservationscience/2011/Tetreault-05-01-2011.pdf

Which section of that article addresses my concern?

[yvan]

Luke,
I have a pair of insect cupboards originally belonging to the Agriculture Dept. They were custom-made in Huon Pine.
The inside of each shallow drawer is simply lined with white paper. Each drawer has its own glass lid fitting in a grove.
Inside some of the drawers I found a number of small plastic boxes -approx 30mm x 20mm x 20mm - whose lids have been partially cut out.
Some sort of fine mesh was glued on the inside of the lid to cover the hole. These small boxes were used to hold either camphor balls or naphthalene flakes to prevent live bugs and other nasties damaging the specimens mounted on pins.
So, maybe lining your "box" with modern acid-free mounting paper could do the trick?

Yvan

[Luke Maddux]

I've had a look at a few versions of what I'm making. It looks like a lot of people out there are leaving them unfinished on the inside.

I'm going to deliver the case with a King Billy Pine backing. If the client wants to put white paper over that - and he said he might - then it shouldn't be a problem.

At this point I think I'm leaning toward raw timber on the inside and finished as I indicated before on the outside. I might was the inside without any oil just to make it look nice.

Regarding bugs getting into the frame and eating the other bug, this is a valid concern. I've sealed the glass in with epoxy and I believe that he will put sticky tape around the edge of the backing to prevent mites entering through the back of the frame as well.

[Master Splinter]

Which section of that article addresses my concern?

The part in the very first paragraph that says (emphasis mine):

"Low-VOC emulsion (latex or water-borne) paint is the most promising coating and is suitable for preservation purposes. The emphasis remains on avoiding the use of any coating based on drying oils inside enclosures, such as display cases. Drying oils may seem to be green products but they release harmful peroxides and low molecular weight carboxylic acids...."

However, they do give a big tick to shellac (ideal for a bug case, too!!)

[yvan]

I've had a look at a few versions of what I'm making. It looks like a lot of people out there are leaving them unfinished on the inside.

I'm going to deliver the case with a King Billy Pine backing. If the client wants to put white paper over that - and he said he might - then it shouldn't be a problem.

At this point I think I'm leaning toward raw timber on the inside and finished as I indicated before on the outside. I might was the inside without any oil just to make it look nice.

Regarding bugs getting into the frame and eating the other bug, this is a valid concern. I've sealed the glass in with epoxy and I believe that he will put sticky tape around the edge of the backing to prevent mites entering through the back of the frame as well.

In fact, a white background makes visual sense as it brings the specimens "forward", bearing in mind that a lot of insects are quite uniform in colour, if not plain dull!
Y

[Arron]

I cant help you with your question about finishes.
However, the way I do butterflies in shadow boxes is to simply use white card as a backing. I mount 4 small blocks of PE foam to the card, so one goes behind each wing. The butterfly is then simply glued to the blocks using UHU paste.

I seal it up properly - so I think they are bug-tight but you can never be sure. Anyway, I dont use naptha or anything else to keep the bugs away - and some of the specimens that I collected 30 years ago in Malaysia have still not been affected by bugs - so it seems to work.

I dont use pins because they look awful - and I use plain white card because it best shows colour and detail. Obviously youre going for a different look.

However I'm not a collector - I just have a few shadow boxes on the wall for the aesthetics.

Stopping them fading is the big problem.

Cheers
Arron

Edit : sorry, didnt read that you were making this for someone else till after I posted it. Makes my comments on displaying insects fairly irrelevant, I guess.