Royalston Arts Foundry rejuvenates Soldier Sam monument.The Royalston Arts Foundry, Royalston, Mass., restored Soldier Sam, a 19th Century statue in Belchertown, Mass. The all-zinc structure had suffered creep defects over the years and would potentially collapse upon itself due to the zinc material and its overall height of 28 ft. As part of a $47,000 project, Royalston Arts built a steel armature armature, in art: see sculpture. Armature That part of an electric rotating machine which includes the main current-carrying winding. , or skeleton, within the base and 11-ft. column of the structure. Due to the galvanic corrosion Galvanic corrosion is an electrochemical process in which one metal corrodes preferentially when it is in contact with a different type of metal and both metals are in an electrolyte. properties of zinc and stainless steel stainless steel: see steel. stainless steel Any of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10–30% chromium. The presence of chromium, together with low carbon content, gives remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. , the staff placed Teflon pieces between any spots where the two materials would come into contact, particularly at the bolt holes that connected the two segments of the statue. Further, with a point-and-shoot thermometer and blow torch Blow torch is a common name for a simple heating torch, which burns liquid fuel with ambient atmospheric air after vaporizing it using a coiled tube passing through the flame. In the United Kingdom the older, kerosene-fuelled, type was called a blowlamp. , the facility was able to straighten the zinc structure's bending shape, a task that, according to Royalston's owner Jeffrey M. Bronnes, was said by the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., to be impossible. |
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