Posts fromElsa Sangouard

Hi everyone,

Kate and I wanted to share our progress with the wooden sides of the port gun carriage.Read more

I realized that we are often showing the glamorous side of our job here in the lab through our blog posts… nice objects, good progress, fun discoveries… but unfortunately we are not always mucking around in dirty USSMonitorgunk. That would be too good to be true!

A large part of the background work in the lab is controlling the desalination baths. This notably involves logging pH measurements and analyzing the amount of salt extracted for each tank. Indeed, progress can only be achieved if the pH is stable and salt is removed from the objects. Boring, I know. In fact, even crawling around theMonitor’sgoo on fun days intent on freeing more salt from the objects (in addition to making them look pretty). The process of extracting the salts out of the objects is also what is taking forever… especially for such large artifacts like the ones we have here. However, if we do not do it properly, objects, especially those made of metal, can develop what is called “active” corrosion once dried (i.e. a corrosion process that does not end and feeds itself). And of course, this is the opposite of what we want to achieve when it comes to conservation. So, desalination is a must in order to share these artifacts and their stories to the public in exhibits.Read more

Apologies followers; we have not been really present on the blog lately.

We have been really busy though, and not only because of the Holidays!Read more

Yes, we do have a farm here at the Batten Conservation Laboratory!

Not a conventional farm, even though I believe most of us would not mind having a couple bovines, hens, rabbits, and canned vegetables on hand in preparation for a harsh Virginian winter… No, our farm is a “Tank Farm”, yes Ma’am.Read more