medal storage

[mads]

Hello guys!
I need you help, is pine a harmfull wood to use in ones display?
I have some display cases which is made of pinewood, and I have heard that pine contains resin which is likely to tarnish my medals.
I have used these display cases for about 1-2 years now.
here`s some old pictures of them. (I have more medals than this now)

[mads]

more:

[mads]

also, what kind of cloth should one use?
I have used some syntethic velvet.

[George Stimson]

Mads,

Those are very nice looking displays, but I have heard that pine can give off vapors which are harmful to collectibles.
Velvet is an okay cloth, I think. (You want to stay away from felt.)

[mads]

thank you for your quick reply George!
I am very much in doubt of what i should do now, I am thinking of throwing these diplay cases out just because they are pine.
Will the harmfull gases stop comming after some time?
I should have lived in USA, then i could have bought riker mounts.

[George Stimson]

Mads,

You don't have to panic! Maybe if the cases have the right kind of finish they could be okay. But I'm sure I've read that untreated pine is not too good.
Can anyone else comment on this?

[mads]

they are not threated with anything.
I buildt them when I was a newbie.

[IVAN]

Hi,

George is right, pine is not the perfectly wood for storage but if is not very young in cut ,I don't think you can have serious problems. Perfectly wood for storage are strong woods, like african woods, but are very good old woods too. velvet inside is perfect.

don't worry, I think you will not have problems with this storage.

hope you haven't take glue for assembly it.

Ivan

[mads]

Hello Ivan!
I haven`t used glue to asembly it.
I don`t know how fresh the wood was when I buildt them, but they have had adequate time to dry now atleast.
Do you guys think i should clearcoat them?
By the way the backing plates are plywood, is that harmful?
Thank you for your replies thus far guys!

[Phil DeWitt]

Not a bad idea to put a finish on the pine, to seal it.
There is a thread on preservation and display cases
somewhere - recall that bare wood of most kinds,
and pine, are NOT good for medals.

Good Luck,

Phil

[mads]

.Thanks for the reply Phil!
I have just returned from the paintshop having bought some clearcoat.
I tried to buy waterbased polyurathane, but this is only used in industries here in norway so they didn`t have it.
I bought waterbased standard clearcoat instead.
i figure I will do 3 coats of it and let it dry for a month or so before using the displays again.
I will also seal the plywood back with the same amount of coats.
In the meantime I have placed my medals on a table woth velvet under them, and over them to protect them from dust.
this is going to be torture as i am used to peeking at my displays a 1000 times a day .

[Phil DeWitt]

Hello Mads,

This probably won't make you feel any better, but until I can build a bunker, my collection is in metal ammo cans - a real hassle to take out and view!

All the best to you,

Phil

"Son, we live in a world that needs tanks, and those tanks need to be loved by tank commanders."

[von ropen]

Hello Mads
Nice medal storage, could you give us a front better view of your medal storage? It look great....

[mads]

well, right now they are taken apart for clearcoating and will remain that way for atleast a month.
I don`t have a digicam right now either since my old one got busted in january.
I`m getting a new one in a couple of months, and will probably post some pictures of my entire collection in the display part of this forum.
Best regards

Mads