For bone artifacts, shell artifacts, fossils, most pottery
Per Dr. Gomer, thank you for saving my collection! He was nice and ethical to me and the hobby to share his formula and procedure. We used to use a beeswax method for preserving bone but it darkened the items and it's just a much less satisfactory way than the Gomer Method. If an item is broken, preserved the pieces, then glue them. I use straight Duco for that. I'd sticky this preservation tip if I could. Without preservation much bone and shell just deteriorates. If you haven't pulled out your bone or shell or fossil items in a long time, do so now! If you have a restoration to do or if you do not feel confident then Gomer's your man to contact to do the job. He does incredible work.
Again, per Gomer:
"We use Duco glue and Acetone for all our sealing needs both personally and for customers in the majority of situations. I am sending our sealing recipe for dried artifacts. The mixing can be changed if one prefer's different finishes. The finish we prefer is basically obtained by mixing one tube of glue per a pint of Acetone. One gallon of Acetone plus 8 tubes of glue should give you enough solution to dip this artifact in. You leave the artifact in the soultion untill it quits fizzing or bubbling. When you take it out it will dry very quickly and can even be held while it dries. If one has any whitening to appear from moisture still trapped inside one can lightly wipe the areas with Acetone to get rid of. This sealing will not change the looks of the artifact. So however it looks now that is how it will look when done. Only if it is dipped more than once will the outside finish change. Hope this helps. If it ends up being more than you bargained for we can do it for you.....Gomer
The Duco glue is sold at Wal-Marts, etc. It is in a green and yellow colored tube and costs about $1.29 a tube. This gives pretty much exactly the same results as Butvar and Acetone that Universities use." Butvar leaves a nasty shiney look to everything you use it on! Use the duco acetone mix!
try the duco/acetone recipe on your shells. It has saved
many a collection from deterioration, especially old or artifact shell. It
works on shell, bone, porous pottery, fossils (smaller ones, see info below)
and many other items with similar porosity and in need of
solidification/preservation. On new shell it will preserve color longer
than without and seal the surface.
When you use one tube per pint of acetone, put item in only when it is
COMPLETELY DRY. Drying some artifacts is an art and science unto itself.
More important with bone items since they are more porous. The mixture
permeates, doesn't just coat the outside. The item will "fizz", when that
stops just take it out and it dries instantly. Some harder items like new
shell may not fizz much at all. Doesn't hurt to leave it in the fluid for 15
min. if it doesn't fizz or after it's stopped fizzing.
(Gomer, as he is known in arrowhead circles, real name Thornton Pyles is an
extremely talented and professional restorer of artifacts, pottery, he has a
website for his business. He's responsible originally for the "recipe" and
disseminating it amongst collectors. LOL, he is responsible for many tubes
of Duco to be sold in at least the past 22-23 years, hahahah!!!! True! We
were all using the beeswax, the Butvar or no preservation technique for many
years. Wax darkens and butvar is very shiny, horrible, but what museums
use, the duco/acetone is the best. Museums should use it instead of butvar
because of the discoloration, no brainer!)
Here's what I've been sending and posting for years, most if it originally
from "Gomer" to whom I always give credit and reference to : Gomerize,
Gomerization, Gomer's Recipe, etc. LOL.
"We use Duco glue and Acetone for all our sealing needs both personally and
for customers in the majority of situations. I am sending our sealing recipe
for dried artifacts. The mixing can be changed if one prefer's different
finishes. The finish we prefer is basically obtained by mixing one tube of
glue per a pint of Acetone. One gallon of Acetone plus 8 tubes of glue
should give you enough solution to dip this artifact in. You leave the
artifact in the soultion untill it quits fizzing or bubbling. When you take
it out it will dry very quickly and can even be held while it dries. If one
has any whitening to appear from moisture still trapped inside one can
lightly wipe the areas with Acetone to get rid of. This sealing will not
change the looks of the artifact. So however it looks now that is how it
will look when done. Only if it is dipped more than once will the outside
finish change. Hope this helps. If it ends up being more than you bargained
for we can do it for you.....Gomer
The Duco glue is in a green and yellow colored tube and costs about $1.29 a
tube (old recipe and price!). This gives pretty much exactly the same
results as Butvar and Acetone that Universities use." Butvar leaves a nasty
shiney look to everything you use it on! Use the duco acetone mix!
Additional explanations about large bone items, etc.:
In preserving very large bone items using the amount of Acetone it would
take with either Duco or Butvar glue is very dangerous on ones personal
health. The vapors alone from this much open Acetone will rock your socks
off and who knows how many brain cells one looses (I can be an example on
that, lol).
The Duco Acetone is the best way to seal dry small to medium size objects.
There it is much easier to contain harmful vapors. It is cheap and as Joshua
discussed it is very easy to get desired results that suit one person versus
another.
Note: In this crazy mixed up world we live in Duco glue is no longer sold by
Wal-Mart..... One can still buy it on line at the normal $1.29 a tube price
but the normally the S/H charge is 8 to 10 times more costly than a single
tube. Though you will pay double the price for a single tube, normally $2.79
"Ace Hardware does handle it and on display in most stores I have found.
(Will have to add Lowes...)
As bad as I hate to advertise for Elmer's Glue (NOT THE WHITE STUFF, its
useless!!!) they do have two products that do work well with large bone
projects. They are cheap and safer than the large volume of Acetone required
for such projects. They take more practise to use in getting a good natural
finish that does not look like its glued but it can be done. It is their two
brands of outside glue. One is Yellow in color and the other a light tan and
as most of their products can be diluted with water. The advantage of these
two products compared to the AWFUL,GOOD FOR NOTHING EXCEPT A LAST RESORT ON
SAVING SOMETHING "WHITE GLUE" is they resist any humidity change, which the
White glue cannot do.
It takes very little glue compared to the amount of water to get a good mix
and constant application to keep the coating even and thin but one can do a
good job safely on large "DRY" bone items. It will not soak to the center of
a artifact though as Acetone/Duco/Butvar will. In large items as skulls,
large leg bones one has the advantage of a massive piece of bone giving its
ownself strength to a point versus say, a slender fragile bone fish hook
which has no mass.
Again "WET" bone and especially precious Ivory are all together different
ball games and take much more time and different techingue. I am speaking
here only on "DRY" large mass bone items for the Elmer products. There are
many different other chemicals one could use but most are hard to find, not
cheap and just not worth the effort in using for the common man."
I might add that if the bone item is large and/or difficult to dry, then it takes a sequence of different Acetone/water concentration soaks until all the water is out and it' "bone" dry before using duco/acetone. If it's a small bone item, like a bead or a small pin, and it's not falling apart, then it should dry fine inside a paper towel (no dyes!) in a dry place for a period of time. But beware, as bone dries it likes to flake off, same with the patina on shell.
Questions? Boom?
I am sooo upset! Why did that happen to me?! Has any one else broke something nice they have found? 
---Chuck 
