Glass Hands
Brief information
An uranium yellow glass hands produced by the W.H,B & J Richardson Company. According to its Registration Diamond on the palm of both hands, the glass was registrated on the 11th May, 1872.
Treatment Goal
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Cleaning: mechanical removing the old adhesive with a bit acetone. Cleaning the glass with deionised water
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Fingers were broken and detached from the left hand: treatment included adhesion of the detached fingers
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Left thumb is missing: treament would create a clear replacement thumb
Making a Thumb Cast - Make Mould
Considered the right thumb is hard to access and it is flipped to the left. We decided to make a new mould for casting.
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It firstly made an epoxy putty thumb: shape it into thumb shape in-situ
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Refined and retouched the thumb with flugger
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Moulded it: Make a mould box with silicone rubber
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making a two-halved mould: imitating the joint in between the hands
Making a Thumb Cast - Cast a new thumb
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Hxtal thumb: clear, similar refractive index to glass and insoluable to solvents
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Casted the mould with Hxtal-NY1 (3-part resin: 1 part hardener): set for 7 days
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Then polish it with abrasive cloth (from 4000 grade to 8000 grade, and to 12000 grade)
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The final hxtal thumb is clear but pick up some yellow colour from the hand body at the same time.
Adhering the broken fingers
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Sticked the distached fingers back with Hxtal-NY1. It has strong bonding and simliar refractive index to glass. Yellowing with age is not a problem as the hands are yellow.
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Used tape to secure a correct joint and set it for a few days.
Adhering the clear replacement thumb
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Polish the cast with micromesh cloths
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Stick the replacement thumb with Paraloid B-72. Paraloid B-72 is a reversible adhesive. It enables future replacement.
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Then, set for 7 days.
