Making “Acid-Free” Scrapbooking Cabinets
Hello all
This is my first post to Knots so bear with me, I am not sure I am familiar with all the rules yet.
I am a new to woodworking. My experience is limited to a lot of DIY type shows on TV and a beginning woodworking course at a community college. Therefore I don’t know a lot about the raw materials yet. My wife wants me to make her some scrapbooking furniture. I could use plywood or MDF, but the big question in my mind has to do with the “acid-free” and “lignin-free” concept. For those of you that don’t know about scrapbooking, they make special paper specifically for scrapbooking which has been tested to ensure that it wont break down over time. In general there are acids and wood binders which are used in regular paper production which are harmful to the paper over long periods of time. Scrapbooking furniture also has to be “acid-free” so it won’t affect the “acid-free” paper in a negative way. For more info check out this link on Scrapbooking terms
So three questions:
1) Do any of you know what I could use to make “acid-free” storage cabinets? I was thinking about that MDF that is laminated with that white Formica kinda stuff on both sides. I think its call “Melamine” but I am not sure.
2) Does anyone know if regular MDF or Plywood is “acid-free”.
3) Does anyone know if there is a test to see if a wood product is acid free?
Thanks for the help!
Replies
Don't know about acid free, but mdf/ple etc are loaded with formaldehyd (sp) Used to work in an Asian art museum and we always used med-x (a form of mdf) for casework. Was the only material conservation would approve of....
You should check with a curator at your nearest museum. Most are very approachable, just call to make an appointment and ask him/her your questions. You will get the best way to address document storage.
Lee
I'll have to check medex out further. We've made cabinets for rare documents and had to have a sealed metal cabinet within the wood cabinet to meet conservators severe scrutiny.
http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineShopping?Dsp=2
These folks specialize in archival storage and a search will turn up more info and suppliers.
I had a similar question earlier this year. After making a post here and following up on some research this is what I found for a photo storage box for a coffee table.
http://www.conservationresources.com/Main/section_21/section21_23.htm
It gets painted on then a liner can be added, something like velvet or whatever. The problem with leaving the "paint" alone is that it is charcoal basically and would rub off. So simply covering it afterwards should solve the problem.
This is not a permenant solution but should be safe for a long while.
I am not all that worried about the conservation from a museum point of view. I dont expect the scrapbooks we make to last 1000 years. But I would like to make a resonable effort to ensure an "acid free" materials, emphasis on "reasonable". The idea being that I could make some scrapbooking furniture for much cheaper than buying it. I have seen lots of furniture online that is "acid-free" made from plastic or chipboard coated with that which Formica type stuff but most of it is way to expensive for what you get. So I thought I could make some. However if I need to spend a lot of a coating that would make it "acid-free" it might end up costing more than its worth.
What is that MDF or chipboard covered with the white vinyl called? do you guys know where I could get some. your average HD or Lowes doesnt carry it...
Thanks all.
Melamine perhaps? You will find a better selection at a plwood dealer than a big box store. Look in you larger closest urban yellow pages
mdf, melamine and chipboard are loaded with formaldahyde...this stuff will offgas and screw up your artifacs. Medx is form free, but even then for certain objects it must be sealed with a special primer...I'll email you a number for a paper conservator I know ....
MDF and plywood both contain formaldyhyde (in most versions) which can decay to provide formic acid emmissions. Not a good thing.
Many common coatings--oil based varnish or paint, polyurethane, and waterborne varnish or paint can generate acidic emissions of their own.
While shellac is not a perfect barrier to emissions of from wood it covers it doesn't create emissions of its own, and thus may be a good choice for coating the wood of a cabinet. This is not a case for a wash coat. Several coats are recommended. I would use at least half a dozen coats of 2 lb. cut, thinnly brushed, but with only gentle sanding for appearance. (Do what you want on the exterior of cases, of course.)
From what I have read, the most important factor would be the choice of the particular wood. Some woods are very acidic--oak, red cedar, douglas fir. Others are much less acidic. Of the more commonly available woods, African mahogany, with a just barely acidic pH of 6.5 would be a good choice. Silver maple (acer sacchorinum) is also good at pH 6.4, but it would be hard to distinquish this, in lumber dealers, from sugar maple (acer sacchorum) which is the most common hard maple. The source cited below has a long list, but many of the more neutral pH woods seem pretty exotic to me.
Sources: several publication from the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/publications/index_e.aspx and search the database on shellac.
Acidified paper is a relativly recent process. It used to all be acid free and books were stored on wooden shelves for generations with no illeffects.
I would make a solid wood shelving and use shellac as the covering
1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Edited 6/19/2006 2:46 pm ET by Ricks503
I have NO IDEA... BUT I would say use maple.. and Shellac on the inside or NOTHING inside..
The idea of using shellac on the inside, in general, is correct. But shellac is acidic, as are most, if not all woods, so not the best choice for this application.
Sounds like what you are putting in the unit will be much more important than the unit itself.
I'd buy metal cabinets from Steelcase or some other well known maker of metal office furniture and filing cabinets.
Use manufactured sheetstock at your own risk. If you insist on wood then use solid wood throughout and shellac as the finish, inside and out.
I love woodworking as much as the next guy. Plan another project and use steel for archival purposes.
Edited 6/21/2006 12:46 pm ET by BossCrunk
BossCrunk, I think you hit the nail on the head. The things that are in the cabinet are more important than the cabinet itself. I am thinking of using this furniture strictly for storage, not for display purposes. Basically, I was thinking of making a tall box (like a filing cabinet) say 6 ft tall, by about 12.5" wide and having shelves about 3 - 5 inches apart with no doors and use it for loose paper storage. Alternatively a half sized filing cabinet (2 drawer sized) with 3-4 several smaller drawers for stamp ink pads, or paper cutters, and various other scrap booking tools. The problem being that most mass produced furniture is not made to the sizes of the weird scrapbook paper (12” x 12”). A regular filing cabinet would have a hard time storing that size material. Because there are not a lot of companies manufacturing them, and the ones that do consider them specialty products, they charge a lot for them. I saw one piece used for storing paper (like described above) in a magazine for $150.00. I figured that I could make one for $30.00 in sheet goods, and $2 in glue and staples. So I didn’t want to spend a lot. If it ends up costing me the same as buying one, the benefit is negated.There has been a lot of talk in this thread that has basically convinced me not to try to build something, just to buy it. But it just seems like a waste of money when I think I could build them so easily.
Depending on the size of the unit and how much you want to spend , Iwould build it out of Spanish Cedar. You could use this cedar for the storage compartments only.
Why Spanish cedar?
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled