Using an existing rosette ornament, Historical Arts & Casting produced a negative of the piece to create the pattern used to make the mold.
An automated cutter carves out the details for a wood pattern based on data gathered with 3-D scanners.
work of our employees. On closer look, under the paint, age and weather have taken its toll.” Te Dome, constructed between 1855 and 1866, was built with nearly 9 million lbs. of cast iron pieces bolted together at a final cost of $1,047,291. But the Dome’s ironwork consists of more than its architectural structure. Te Dome is surrounded with detailed cast iron ornamental work barely vis- ible to a person viewing the building from the ground. Many of these pieces also required repair or replacement. “What I find most fascinating is the amount of detail that went into crafting the ornaments,” said Joe Abriatis, construction manager of the Dome Restoration project. “It is incredible to see the intricacy and to realize that these decorations were created at the time of the Civil War. Tere are little lines and indenta- tions the size of your pinky fingernail that cannot be seen from the ground and that have been obscured under a dozen layers of paint. It is astonish- ing to know that we are seeing these details for the first time since the last restoration in the 1960s.” The Architect of the Capitol has enlisted Historical Arts and Cast- ing, West Jordan, Utah, to recast the missing or badly damaged decora- tive pieces of the Dome. These pieces include scrolls, acorn finials, acorn pendants, flowers, and acan-
Historical Arts & Casting made a pattern out of rubber (left) from an existing lambs tongue ornament. Good pieces, along with broken castings, were taken from the Dome to create the newly cast ornaments (right).
22 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Jul/Aug 2015
Photo provided by: Architect of the Capitol Photo provided by: Architect of the Capitol
Photo provided by: Architect of the Capitol
Photo provided by: Architect of the Capitol
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