Wood Bonds Wood:The Use of Digital 3D Technology and a Cellulose-based Adhesive to Glue a Separated Joint on a Medieval Limewood Relief

This case study presents a novel approach to gluing a poorly fitting open joint on a polychromed 16th century lime- wood relief, relying on digital 3D technology. Photogrammetrically generated digital 3D models of the two gluing surfaces allowed in a first step to analyze the conditions in the virtually recreated joint and then to produce a CNC-routed wooden infill to bridge the large gap between the two fragments.The precise infill allowed for an adhesive mixture consisting of a short-chained cellulose-ether and microfibrillated cellulose.The formulation was successfully tested before on a series of samples produced with a simple “open- source” press system.