snipe removal (again)

[jayn_j]

I picked up an insert from Bruce last week that contained a really ugly snipe.  Didn't pay much, so I was willing to experiment some.



After receiving the poster, I took a look at the snipe.  It was partially peeling, and the glue looked to be water soluable.  Either wheat paste or something similar.  It was definitely dried and cracking.  I carefully worked the edges, getting the glue to flake off and slowly removing the snipe.  This took off about 75% f the snipe with no effort.  I then tested a corner with a damp sponge, and was rewarded by the glue becoming gummy and coming off.  I then used the sponge to soften the snipe and slowly got it to separate from the glue and come off.  The whole process so far took about 45 minutes.  As I suspected, removing the snipe revealed that this was  a roadshow #D release poster that had been repurposed.  So here is where I am currently sitting.  The glue is slowly coming off, but whoever put it on was sloppy, and there are runs of old glue.  Further, it was slapped on and then the snipe shrank, causing the upper edge of the poster to ripple.  Here is where it currently sits:


Obviously a lot of work left and it likely won't ever be better than good on a Bruce scale.  I have some tricks from my old photo studio days I am going to try, and also work on getting the rest of the glue marks off.  Will keep you posted.

[erik1925]

Looks like it is coming along really well, there, jayn. 

So it sounds like during the first part, the dry glue basically flaked away, as you worked on it, and the snipe then came along with it?

What edge or corner did you start with?

[jayn_j]

Looks like it is coming along really well, there, jayn. 

So it sounds like during the first part, the dry glue basically flaked away, as you worked on it, and the snipe then came along with it?

What edge or corner did you start with?

Right bottom.  It was hanging loose.  Then the glue simply crumbled for about half the width.  I then started on the left upper corner, but only got about an inch or so.

Neat thing is that it is a 3-d roadshow release poster, and those are uncommon.  I think I may have increased the value a bit by doing this.

[eatbrie]

So was the damp sponge ever touching the poster, or just the back of the snipe?

T

[erik1925]

Looks really good, so far.

Are those 2, brownish run marks on the upper right also glue, too, do you think?

[jayn_j]

I mostly used the damp sponge on the snipe itself, and not the poster.  It softened the snipe, so I could peel it away.

After the snipe was off, I used the sponge to attack the glue residue.  That's in contact with the poster.  But note that this is an insert, so it is of heavy stock.

Yeah, the two brownish marks are where the glue ran down the poster.  You can see on the right of the second image that I have gotten a lot of it off and it is now a faint stain.  I have to be careful though.  If you look at where the biggest globs of glue were present, my rubbing has started to lighten the background.  I am afraid I might take off the paint layer if I am too aggressive.

[Crazy Vick]

i feel like there should be a website somewhere that auctions off nothing but original snipes every week...talk about niche!

[jayn_j]

i feel like there should be a website somewhere that auctions off nothing but original snipes every week...talk about niche!

I usually leave them on as part of the history of the poster, but sometimes they are just too obnoxious to live.  This particular snipe met a horrible death as it came off in pieces.

[erik1925]

I mostly used the damp sponge on the snipe itself, and not the poster.  It softened the snipe, so I could peel it away.

After the snipe was off, I used the sponge to attack the glue residue.  That's in contact with the poster.  But note that this is an insert, so it is of heavy stock.

Yeah, the two brownish marks are where the glue ran down the poster.  You can see on the right of the second image that I have gotten a lot of it off and it is now a faint stain.  I have to be careful though.  If you look at where the biggest globs of glue were present, my rubbing has started to lighten the background.  I am afraid I might take off the paint layer if I am too aggressive.

Good to hear that those brown runs were nothing more than some extra glue. Moisture, a light touch and patience will have that gone before you know it.

[Charlie]

It would probably been ok to get the whole poster wet.  Interestingly if the whole poster is wet and dries at the same rate you can hardly tell (I guess unless it was mint) that it was ever wet.  But when you only wet one end the rest of the paper is resisting the contraction of the poster as it re-sizes... You just need a temporary support like mylar to let it dry on.

[jayn_j]

It would probably been ok to get the whole poster wet.  Interestingly if the whole poster is wet and dries at the same rate you can hardly tell (I guess unless it was mint) that it was ever wet.  But when you only wet one end the rest of the paper is resisting the contraction of the poster as it re-sizes... You just need a temporary support like mylar to let it dry on.

I would need to find or build a large pan to do this.  Back in the days when I was growing up in a portrait studio, we would wet the entire sheet and then dry between blotter papers under weights.  I was considering this to deal with the shrinkage warping at the top.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the original folder, this insert was folded in thirds (standard) and later in a non-standard quarters.  That means there are 5 horizontal fold lines that probably will never come out.  That's going to limit the potential of any attempts I make.