12/21/11

                Recently our mold shop was contracted to make four reproductions of a large historic column base.  The bases were to be made of a low-cost structural material, so we decided to go with concrete.

                The base has an impressive 33” diameter, a height of 8", and an 18.5” diameter hollow center.  The sheer size of the piece meant that a concrete casting was going to be a fairly heavy piece.  However, the hollow center greatly reduced the overall weight of the base, while at the same time adding a new level of complexity to the fabrication.  Each final casting is around 240lbs.

                The first challenge was to make a mold of the original piece.  The mold was made using our flexible, self-leveling MasterMold 12-8.  To make the mold, we first laid a support form down around the prepped original piece, which was offset 2.25” from the perimeter of the column base.  After that was set and sealed, we poured the 12-8 into the form and let the material flow throughout the detail of the original base.  The result was a perfectly detailed, symmetrical mold of the original piece.  The hollow center was simply represented by a symmetrical rigid plug.

                Next, the mold and plug were cleaned, prepped, reinforced, and set to receive the concrete.  The casting was made of high-strength concrete, which was reinforced by rebar coated with epoxy.  The casting was allowed to harden overnight.  The following day the mold was removed and a beautiful, exact replica was revealed.  Minor holes, which are typical with concrete even after vibrating, were filled in with a slurry mixture.  The casting process was repeated three times with the same mold and plug. Many more castings could be made with the same mold, if needed.

                The conclusion of this project proves that combining high-tech solutions with some low-tech ones can still produce outstanding results that are hard to match.  We look forward to seeing these new column bases in place and painted at our client’s restoration project in Little Rock, Arkansas.

11/14/11     

    The massive newel post that we talked about last month was brought to its home in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  It has been installed and it is ready to be painted.  We are excited to see the update from the project.  We look forward to seeing the completion of the restoration, sometime in the spring!

10/26/11

                This past August, an exterior staircase at Reuther High School in Kenosha, WI, underwent major restoration.  The damage to the steps was quite extensive; the result of years of wear and tear from the elements and, of course, foot traffic.  The damage included broken, cracked concrete, and rusted metal from the rebar and the posts.  A wide crack had also previously been sawn vertically through several steps during restoration of the building.

In many cases like this, steps would be removed entirely and remade them from new concrete.  This process can last weeks, be very expensive, produce a lot of waste, and put the entrance out of operation for a long time.  To get the stairs back in operation by the start of the school year, the contractor turned to Abatron.

Rasch Construction used a combination of Aboweld 55-1 and Abocrete to restore the deteriorating staircase.  The first job was to clean out the staircase from any loose debris, and remove the rust stains.  Aboweld 55-1 was used to fill-in the missing and deteriorated concrete which made up the majority of the required repairs.  Buff colored Abocrete was used to recoat and finish the steps.

The results are impressive.  The steps look like new and the restoration was completed in a fraction of the time at a fraction the cost of replacement.  Today they are handling the traffic of hundreds of students and faculty.

10/5/11           

                After successful production of a mold for the newel post, we cast the mold using  WoodCast. 

                This was a challenge for the mold shop, mainly because of the size combined with the intricate detail of the piece.  In addition, the original piece needed a bit of restoration.  We touched it up with WoodEpox and sealed the post with 2 coats of Primkote 8006-1.

                Once the original post was ready, we built a large case for the post in order to form up the Mastermold, poured the mold, pulled it, and then poured the casting.  The process is simple in concept and design, however once in action, it became an intense orchestra of patience, attention to detail,  materials selection, and expert craftsmanship.

                The owner was very impressed and excited with the finished product.   He commented, “It looks better than the original piece!”  He picked up both pieces yesterday, and drove them back to his historical rehab home in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  There he will install both pieces in the staircase, and finish them with paint.

                According to the owner, this replication was deemed, by his local historic preservation society, impossible to recreate by any means other than sending it off to a foreign country to have a hand-crafted replica made.  That process would have taken weeks, if not months, been extremely expensive, and could have been a logistical nightmare.

                Our solution took only a few weeks, was more affordable, and the owner was able to pick it up, in person, and drive it back to Kentucky.

                A job well done by the guys in Abatron’s Mold Shop… now on to the next project!