preserving ship timber

[keegah]

Anybody now what or if would be the best way to preserve an old ships timber.it's a salt water beach find /metal attached w/spikes.i am worried that it will dry out. thanks, keegah

[thepirate]

Hey Keegah - was just reading a section in "complete wreck diving" by Keatts and Skerry. They have a chapter on conservation. To quote "Combinations of wood and metal pose special conservation problems. Since each type of material may require different treatment , you may want to separate the materials. If that is not possible, or you prefer not to do so , you must compromise on the treatment you use".

If the wood's your main problem then first of all make sure it's been soaked and rinsed in fresh water (longer the better and in running water if poss) to get rid of the salts. You then have to dehydrate it (3 baths of wood alcohol and water...40% alcohol , 60% then 100%...each bath at least a week). Finally it needs to be conserved after dehydration - xylene baths and paraffin chips OR gentle drying and a bath of turps and boiled linseed oil for approx 2 weeks. Apparently the latter finish looks more natural but can warp thin pieces.

Hope that's of use. Unfortunately I've not tried it out so it's only from the book....which I can recommend reading. They go into more detail.

Good luck , Pirate.

[morgan70]

Another method is to follow the advice given in the last post, but then soak in Ethylene Glycol until fully saturated. Then rinse and allow to dry.

[keegah]

Thanks everyone.i'm in the fresh water soaking phase now and will be doing he wood alcohol soak next.again,thanks

[thepirate]

Let us know how you get on - I'd be interested to see a pic of the finished result , Mike.