Re: [BKARTS] Wheat pastes

["Jack C. Thompson" <tcl@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Kojiro Ikegame (yes, he is a 'he') is correct.

And it is easy (if messy) to extract starch from flour.

What is not said (here) is that bugs are attracted to gluten; therefore,
if you use wheat/rice flour, etc. as the basis for your paste bugs are more
likely to be attracted to the book/object than if you had used starch.

And 'weak' is a relative term.  Starch paste is far stronger than paper,
and flour paste is stronger yet.

Strive for balance.

There is more discussion about this in the archives.

Jack


>I came across an interesting discussion of wheat paste, starch paste and
>"aged" starch paste this weekend in a book by Kojiro Ikegami entitled
>"Japanese Bookbinding Instructions from a Master Craftsman". On pages
>22-24 he(?) discusses paste including giving recipes for wheat paste and
>how to extract wheat starch from flour. It's long involved process leaving
>you with a lot of very dilute starch and a mess of gluten which he then
>discards although he notes it is an edible product in Japan called fu.
>The most interesting statement to me though was
>
>"flour paste prepared from ordinary cooking flour and water, may be used
>for general binding tasks. For conservation-quality work and for most
>repair and restoration, paste paste made from wheat starch...is
>subtituted. Starch paste is BOTH WEAKER and purer than wheat paste,
>characteristics that are considered assets in the repair of old or
>valuable books. Aged paste ...is a very weak paste that is particularly
>suited to patching torn or insect-eaten pages."

(snip)

>
>Dave
>--
>Beddall Bookbinding Conservation & Restoration
>840 Snowdrop Ave. Victoria BC V8Z 2N4
>(250)888-9380    http://www.Bookbinder.ca

Thompson Conservation Lab.
7549 N. Fenwick
Portland, Oregon  97217
USA

503/735-3942 (phone)
503/289-8723 (fax)


http://www.teleport.com/~tcl

"The lyfe so short; the craft so long to lerne."
Chaucer  _Parlement of Foules_ 1386

             ***********************************************
Now Online - The Bonefolder, Vol. 2, No. 1 at <http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder>
                                    
             For all your subscription questions, go to the
                      Book_Arts-L FAQ and Archive.
                                    
          See <http://www.philobiblon.com> for full information
             ***********************************************