thus leaves that adorn the famous building. The replaced castings range in
size from 5 inches for ornamental pieces to more than 11-ft. long for cast iron gutters. Approximately 75-100 pieces will be recast, accord- ing to Abriatas, including gutters,
rail caps, ornamental pieces and a majority of the Tholos balustrade section of the Capitol Dome. Te process of replacing the iron pieces begins with selecting a cast iron feature in good condition to develop a pattern to cast a replacement. Te feature in good condition is removed
from the Dome and shipped to the metalcasting facility, where it is used to make a pattern. Two pattern methods are used for
the Dome Restoration project. “Either a rubber mold of the part
is made and a positive is made in a plastic resin, or if shrinkage of the recasted pieces is considered to be a risk, a 3-D scan is made of the piece to create a model on a computer,” Abriatis said. “Patterns can then be printed or cut on a computer numeri- cal control machine.” Before the pattern can be made,
more than 10 layers of paint must be removed to reveal the original details on the 150-year-old casting. Each cast iron part is made in a no- bake sand mold. Te original iron from the damaged castings is reclaimed and remelted to produce the new pieces. “Pieces that can’t be repaired will be melted, re-alloyed and poured into the new castings, so the original pieces will remain part of the Dome’s historic fabric,” Abriatis said. Once completed, the parts are
Detailed ornamental pieces are tucked in throughout the Dome’s architecture, barely seen from the ground. Many of these pieces were too damaged to restore onsite, so they were recast at an art foundry in Utah.
24 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Jul/Aug 2015
Photo provided by: Architect of the Capitol
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