Rescue a falling apart miniature sheet

Help! I recently acquired a Germany Ostropa 1935 miniature sheet that previous owners had failed to remove the gum from, despite it's pretty much
falling apart (it is now in 8 fragile pieces.) Any suggestions what would be the best way to put it back together again so that I can put it in an
album or stockbook? I have considered pasting the bits to a large Hawid mount though I think they would fall off. Also considered cutting up a
black cardboard stocksheet and sticking the bits to that. Or just sticking it to a sheet of acid free copier paper. Any better ideas (I can't
actually get Hawids here anyway - I can only get Scott / Showgard which are split up the back).

Cheers

A somewhat distraught John Mycroft

By way of a PS, the glue I have here in the house (other than wildly inappropriate stuff like Gorilla Glue) includes a glue pen full of what looks
like watered down wallpaper paste, real wallpaper paste with fungicide (for sticking up pre-pasted paper!) and PVA which I guess would need to be
watered down if I didn't want to destroy the sheet completely. Any suggestions? (I also have duct tape...)

In case you're wondering, the reason that the gum should be removed from this sheet is that it contains sulphuric acid which eats the paper - the
centre has fallen out of one of the O's in the watermark.

John

John Mycroft wrote:
Help! I recently acquired a Germany Ostropa 1935 miniature sheet that
previous owners had failed to remove the gum from, despite it's pretty
much falling apart (it is now in 8 fragile pieces.) Any suggestions
what would be the best way to put it back together again so that I can
put it in an album or stockbook? I have considered pasting the bits to
a large Hawid mount though I think they would fall off. Also considered
cutting up a black cardboard stocksheet and sticking the bits to that.
Or just sticking it to a sheet of acid free copier paper. Any better
ideas (I can't actually get Hawids here anyway - I can only get Scott /
Showgard which are split up the back).

Cheers

A somewhat distraught John Mycroft

I am sure you are pulling our collective legs John.
PVA or duct tape a definite No No.

Can you not reconstruct it face down,
using a loupe and matching the perforations
then joining with peelable hinges?

That would be the "only" way for Moi.

"John Mycroft" wrote in message
. ..
Help! I recently acquired a Germany Ostropa 1935 miniature sheet that
previous owners had failed to remove the gum from, despite it's pretty
much falling apart (it is now in 8 fragile pieces.) Any suggestions what
would be the best way to put it back together again so that I can put it
in an album or stockbook? I have considered pasting the bits to a large
Hawid mount though I think they would fall off. Also considered cutting
up a black cardboard stocksheet and sticking the bits to that. Or just
sticking it to a sheet of acid free copier paper. Any better ideas (I
can't actually get Hawids here anyway - I can only get Scott / Showgard
which are split up the back).

Cheers

A somewhat distraught John Mycroft

On Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:09:25 +0800, "rodney"
wrote:


I am sure you are pulling our collective legs John.
PVA or duct tape a definite No No.

Can you not reconstruct it face down,
using a loupe and matching the perforations
then joining with peelable hinges?

That would be the "only" way for Moi.


It may be too late, considering how much damage was actually done. I
have heard in the Yahoo TR group that some have crumbled and left
people in serious dismay.

This is a strike for gumless philately! Yee-haaa... Unfortunately,
the planned obsolescence of the Ostropa sheet is a sad day - even for
TR material.


"John Mycroft" wrote in message
...
Help! I recently acquired a Germany Ostropa 1935 miniature sheet that
previous owners had failed to remove the gum from, despite it's pretty
much falling apart (it is now in 8 fragile pieces.) Any suggestions what
would be the best way to put it back together again so that I can put it
in an album or stockbook? I have considered pasting the bits to a large
Hawid mount though I think they would fall off. Also considered cutting
up a black cardboard stocksheet and sticking the bits to that. Or just
sticking it to a sheet of acid free copier paper. Any better ideas (I
can't actually get Hawids here anyway - I can only get Scott / Showgard
which are split up the back).

Cheers

A somewhat distraught John Mycroft

TR Group?


It may be too late, considering how much damage was actually done. I
have heard in the Yahoo TR group that some have crumbled and left
people in serious dismay.

On Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:33:48 +0800, "rodney"
wrote:

TR Group?


Germany - Third Reich.



It may be too late, considering how much damage was actually done. I
have heard in the Yahoo TR group that some have crumbled and left
people in serious dismay.

On Oct 9, 11:54*pm, wrote:
On Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:33:48 +0800, "rodney"

wrote:
TR Group?

Germany - Third Reich.




It may be too late, considering how much damage was actually done. *I
have heard in the Yahoo TR group that some have crumbled and left
people in serious dismay.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks.


TR Group?
Germany - Third Reich.

On Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:36:13 -0400, John Mycroft wrote:

Help! I recently acquired a Germany Ostropa 1935 miniature sheet that
previous owners had failed to remove the gum from, despite it's pretty
much falling apart (it is now in 8 fragile pieces.) Any suggestions
what would be the best way to put it back together again so that I can
put it in an album or stockbook? I have considered pasting the bits to
a large Hawid mount though I think they would fall off. Also considered
cutting up a black cardboard stocksheet and sticking the bits to that.
Or just sticking it to a sheet of acid free copier paper. Any better
ideas (I can't actually get Hawids here anyway - I can only get Scott /
Showgard which are split up the back).

Cheers

A somewhat distraught John Mycroft

You could do it the way professional conservators do it. They turn the
item over, take rice starch paper (you might know it as the inner
wrapping of Japanese candies -- kombu chews, for example) and bridge the
tear. Then they take a /very/ small amount of water on a /very/ fine
(sable?) brush and mend the tear.

The advantage of this is that it is fully reversible and chemically
neutral.

Of course, if you're not confident to order Hawid mounts from a catalog
or the 'Net, you might not be comfortable finding rice starch
paper.... ;-)


--
Joshua H. McGee, Los Angeles, California, USA
Member: APS, ATA, ISWSC, AFDCS, MBPC, MCC, BPS
President: http://www.penguinstamps.org
Trade?: http://www.mcgees.org/stamp-offers/

OK - the dirty deed is done.

First a darn good soak in warm water, several changes thereof, which was a tricky op in itself as the sheet is SO fragile that any sloshing of the
water was likely to break another bit off. Then an extended dry in a drying book.

Hinges weren't an option - this sheet is falling apart. The rice paper idea floated around for a while but I'm a clumsy oaf at the best of times.
So I grabbed a Hagner big enough to hold the block and plastered it with nice neutral water based gum (think wallpaper paste though it wasn't).
Then I could slide the pieces into place easily. After drying, the Hagner went into the album intact - perhaps I can get a used Ostropa sheet to go
in the bottom half - hah! Nobody looking at the block would be fooled for a minute that it is anything but a jigsaw puzzle but at least it fills a
hole I could never have afforded even at a sane fraction of catalog.

Cheers - John

Joshua McGee wrote:
On Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:36:13 -0400, John Mycroft wrote:

Help! I recently acquired a Germany Ostropa 1935 miniature sheet that
previous owners had failed to remove the gum from, despite it's pretty
much falling apart (it is now in 8 fragile pieces.) Any suggestions
what would be the best way to put it back together again so that I can
put it in an album or stockbook? I have considered pasting the bits to
a large Hawid mount though I think they would fall off. Also considered
cutting up a black cardboard stocksheet and sticking the bits to that.
Or just sticking it to a sheet of acid free copier paper. Any better
ideas (I can't actually get Hawids here anyway - I can only get Scott /
Showgard which are split up the back).

Cheers

A somewhat distraught John Mycroft

You could do it the way professional conservators do it. They turn the
item over, take rice starch paper (you might know it as the inner
wrapping of Japanese candies -- kombu chews, for example) and bridge the
tear. Then they take a /very/ small amount of water on a /very/ fine
(sable?) brush and mend the tear.

The advantage of this is that it is fully reversible and chemically
neutral.

Of course, if you're not confident to order Hawid mounts from a catalog
or the 'Net, you might not be comfortable finding rice starch
paper.... ;-)