Digital BW, The Print

All wood is full of acidic contaminants and fumes are released. Prints
sealed in there are subject to contamination.

However, if I had one I would still use it IF I enclosed each print in
a sealed plastic sleeve like the ones sold by clear bags dot com. And
I would certainly paint the inside of the drawers with a toxic free
sealant, such as an acrylic, I assume. You need to research the paint
part of it. I would also call an archival company for opinions.

There are a lot of really good museum portfolio box manufacturers that
 museums use for long term storage, like Spink and Gabork in NY, that
make their boxes out of wood and then cover them with fabrics. So,
using wood is not out of the question if you do it right. You can
always buy one of those acid tester pens to test the inside of the
cabnet after it is painted and left a week or two.

Of course metal is safer.

John





--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Mark Savoia
<mark@...> wrote:
>
> 
> On Apr 15, 2007, at 11:34 AM, edrudolpho wrote:
> 
> > My wife just brought home a large, old wooden flat file.  I'd like to
> > use it to store prints.  Is it safe, in an archival sense, to simply
> > lay them in there?
> 
> No
> 
> >   Should there be a layer of acid-free paper between
> > the prints and the wood?
> 
> Yes
> 
> >   Or is it not a good idea at all?
> 
> Just make sure it is not painted with any toxic paint and clean it  
> well first before using.
> 
> Check out Light Impressions for ideas.
> 
> >
> > Ed
> >
> >
> >
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