Glossary


Annealing:
Making a metal soft and malleable by gradually heating to a temperature sufficient to cause a realignment of its molecules. See also "work-hardened".
B-72:
An acrylic resin in powdered form. When mixed with different solvents at different ratios it performs in various ways. It can be used as an adhesive, as a sealer or as a padded coating.
Durable Press:
A fabric manufacturing process in which piece goods are finished, cured, and/or heat set giving a finish that provides shape retention, durable pleats and creases, smooth seams, and wrinkle resistance.
Ethafoam:
A tough, lightweight and flexible closed-cell polyethylene foam. Ideal for mannequins, mount-padding, and packing. It is biologically and physiologically inert and so resists the growth of mildew. Ethafoam is a trademark of Dow Chemical.
Friable:
Having a fragile and powdery surface.
Heat-shrink Tubing:
Plastic tubing made to shrink to a smaller diameter when heat is applied, allowing tubular and rod-shaped mount components to be covered with a tight-fitting protective coating.
Mil:
 Unit of thickness equal to one thousandth of an inch (0.001" = 0.02mm).
Mounts:
Armatures (usually brass or plexiglas) used to support objects or artifacts for storage or display. Not to be confused with mounts or mountmaking as applied to the framing industry.
Oddy Test:
An accelerated aging test used to determine the presence of volatile compounds harmful to artifacts and works of art. The material to be tested is placed in a constant atmosphere of elevated temperature and relative humidity, along with polished coupons of silver, lead and copper. If the coupons show no sign of tarnish after one month, the material is considered safe for exhibition use in museums and galleries.
Outgas:
To give off chemical vapor. Within a closed environment (e.g. within an exhibit case) these vapors can build up to levels harmful to sensitive materials.
Paint-out:
To paint or patinate a mount or part thereof so that it blends visually with the object it supports or the immediate background. We use safe, quick-drying acrylic paints.
Polyester:
An extremely strong, chemically stable plastic resistant to wrinkling and mildew.
Polyethylene:
A thermoplastic in the polyolefin family. Thermoplastics have the capacity to melt, form, re-melt and re-form (cf. thermoset plastics which have a one-time melt and form capacity).
RH:
Relative Humidity. The percentage of moisture present in a given volume of air. Rapid and extreme changes in RH (and temperature) can damage sensitive hygroscopic materials such as wood, paper, textiles, ivory, etc.
Silver Soldering:
Joining metal by applying a melted alloy of high silver content. Do not confuse with soft soldering which uses a tin based solder and provides weaker joints.
Sizing:
Compounds applied to fabrics to improve smoothness, abrasion resistance, stiffness, strength, weight, or luster. Historically, starch, gelatin, oil and wax were used and are now being replaced by hardier polymeric resins.
Spiders and T's:
Soldered brass armatures in eponymous shapes. The stems and cross-bars are shaped, formed and padded to support objects and artifacts.
Stainless Steel 302:
An iron-chromium-nickel alloy containing 17 - 19% chromium and 6 - 8% nickel. The chromium improves heat and corrosion resistance, while the nickel slows work- hardening (q.v.) and further improves corrosion resistance in combination with the chromium.
Teflon 
TFE- Teflon a DuPont trademark, is a polytetrafluorethylene. It is chemically stable, non- corrosive, non-toxic and famous for being very slippery. Its very high melting point (it has to get to 625°F / 350°C before it starts to gel) exceeds that of some metals. TFE stands for Tetrafluorethylene.
Text Block Drag:
The pages of a book comprise the text block. When a book is in any position but flat, the text block can pull way from the spine, distorting the pages and putting harmful strain on the book's construction.
Thread Count:
The structure of woven fabric is described by the number of warp ends per inch, and the number of  "picks" or fills per inch.
Tumbled:
When items are churned in a closed canister with a specific medium (anything from ceramic bits to peach pits) with the effect of smoothing rough edges.
Vitrine:
The plexiglas cover or "bonnet" fastened onto a pedestal or showcase to protect artifacts and works of art from dust, pollution, and handling.
Work-hardened:
When metal becomes stiff and brittle to the breaking point by being bent repeatedly, especially when cold. This "cold-working" causes the molecules to jam and become unaligned; "annealing" (q.v.) reverses the process and makes the metal malleable again.

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