" That's a pretty interesting technique of stripping paint Greg. What was it you just said?"

" Well, I've just vacuumed off a methylene chloride-based stripper that I've been using on this heavily over painted ornament here on the mantel. "

" It sure is heavy, I'll give you that."

" It's a commonly available stripper you can get at the paint store or the hardware store."

" Uh huh. Well, I think this miracle here was mostly all stripped now. Is that the process you used for the whole thing?"

" No. Actually, on most of the flat surfaces, the profiles, these columns----"

" Yeah."

" I use the heat gun----"

" Okay."

" and various profile scrapers----"

" Uh huh."

" such as just one or these 2."

" Yeah."

" This one works very well in these fluted columns."

" Right."

" By moving it back and forth, you can get into the profile quite nicely."

" We'll just use that with the heat gun."

" Right."

" And what's this---- What would this one here be used?-This is excellent for very tight corners. And here, you see I'm running along the grain of this profile----"

" Okay."

" but I am not scraping against the grain----"

" Right."

" or this flat surface here."

" Yeah. Very nice."

" This one also works very nicely in---- against flat surfaces where you've got a rounded surface next to it of which there are quite a few actually----"

" Yeah."

" on this mantel, on all 3 of these mantels."

" And what's with the process now? Did you do the same thing up here on these musical-looking beauties here?"

" Right. These wires have to had several applications, probably as many as 6 or 7 applications of stripper. And, as you saw, I used the scraper----"

" Okay."

" while the strippers on there to get down into the profiles, and then ultimately, without a stripper on there, I would dry scrape as well. And you can see I'm getting the last little residues of weight----"

" Right."

" after between each of these individual strings, which are fairly delicate."

" So no heat on these details here."

" Correct. This ornament cannot withstand high temperature. They are made of among, other things, hide glue, which is made from animal hides."

" Alright. Okay. Yeah."

" Hide glue, linseed oil, saw dust."

" So this is how they are originally made. They put them in a mold?"

" Correct."

" Put them out and attach them?"

" That's correct."

" And I see we've got one over here that we're----"

" Right. Over here, I have an entire mantel basically fully strips----"

" Okay."

" and in fact, I'm now repairing ornaments."

" So this looks pretty much like the one we just left."

" It is very similar in construction. The only difference is the motif. In the freezer area here----"

" Okay."

" where we had lyres and other musical motif there, we have here a----"

" Little dolphins there?"

" We've got dolphins and other seafaring emblems."

" Okay."

" We also have a Masonic symbol here in the center of these 2 panels."

" Okay. Now, we've seen how they've been applied before in past jobs, but I understand you're not doing the composition here. You're doing something different."

" That's right. What I'm doing is completely different in appearance. I'm using Plaster of Paris, mixed with a bonding agent, which I'm adding right now to some cold water. Here's my bonding agent. I'll be using this as an add mixture to which I then add Plaster of Paris, mixing that to about the consistency of toothpaste. I always and the powder to the liquid. Mix it fairly slowly, but with Plaster of Paris, as you know----"

" That's not [unk]."

" You don't have a lot of working time."

" Right."

" So Ryley, I'm using a 1:1 ratio here between water and the bonding agent in my Plaster of Paris mix. Okay. Now, I'm applying the bonding agent right to the surface of the mantel. Well I can see that the bonding agent is ready now, and so is the plaster, so I'm gonna put on these magnifying glasses. And,"

" I'll just say that everything a little better?"

" Absolutely. And I'm gonna lay on a very rough initial application of the plaster to the location that we're gonna be returning."

" It's almost like miniature trowel work."

" That's exactly what it is. I just wanna be sure I have enough in place so I can come back in a while and smooth it out."

" Now Greg, why not use some of the materials that are out now for as wood fillers to do this work as opposed to Plaster of Paris?"

" Well, it's a preservation philosophy that we don't want to fool or trick or confuse any future conservators should they come along and want to strip and trace the history of this panel."

" They wanna see that this is a repair. They don't wanna be confused."

" Correct. So these are gonna be very obviously repairs out of a completely different material."

" And I've got to ask you what are all these red tapes for?"

" Those indicate locations where I have got work cut out for me."

" Looks like they're a lot."

" The missing ornaments in about 30 locations."

" Yeah."

" Some are very simple. Some are rather more complicated. We have a flower down there that I have already done some work on. Others are very simple where they are just big blisters that simply need to be filled in and smooth out."

" Now do you have any special tools for the actual carving?"

" Well, I've been using anything that works really, but specifically, I've got some very small hobby knives----"

" Okay."

" which works well."

" Can we see how you use them?"

" Yeah. I've some here, a couple of pieces that I laid up earlier today. I come back now and shape these, using the Exacto knife. Really works well at this stage. I also have dental picks I use. The very nice thing about the bonding agent I use is it makes the Plater of Paris workable for a much longer period of time and regular strip plaster repair."

" Very nice."