The conservators at the Redding Museum and Art Center (California), when faced with a lumjawa (a large canoe made from a single log of ponderosa pine) exhibiting states of deterioration ranging from normal weathering to fungal decay and insect damage, developed a method of treatment which involved placing the lumjawa in a tank enclosure provided with a recirculation pump and spray outlets and using a solution of AYAF (poly(vinyl acetate)) in methanol as a consolidant. Because the results of strength tests on samples of the wood before and after treatment were inconclusive, the tests were repeated on samples of undamaged wood. Because the tests indicated that consolidation did not significantly improve strength, still another series of strength tests was performed on samples of degraded Douglas fir which had been treated with various consolidants. The results of these tests indicated that increase in strength after consolidation is directly proportional to degree of deterioration of wood. See also 21-1334 for reference to entire proceedings. -- AATA