Chris Daley, Historical Clothing Supervisor of Jamestown/Yorktown, visited us last Tuesday to give his expert advice on the wool coat recovered from the turret in 2002. Chris was amazed to see how well preserved the coat is and how much of it remains. We now know that about 80% of the garment has survived (in [...]
This oil cup was discovered in 2001 in a mass of concretion withother various tools. These tools are most likely the spilled contents of a tool box and included different sized hammer heads, a small oil can, a lead ingot, and glass from a lantern. The mass was concreted to a large copper alloy [...]
Buffalo, NY: April 4, 2010 Success! After letting the molten iron cool and solidify, we cut the metal strapping and began to break open the sand molds. It was an amazing feeling as replica Worthington pump damping piston cylinder heads and valve chest covers began to emerge from the molds, just as they would have [...]
Buffalo, New York April 10, 2010 The day of the spring iron pour at Buffalo State College is finally here! After nearly a week of preparation, the iron furnace named ‘Betty’ was lit in the morning and Will and other experienced iron casters fed in measured charges of 7 lbs. of coke and 50 lbs. [...]
Buffalo, NY: April 9, 2010 An eventful day at the Buffalo State College foundry! Final preparations are underway for the iron pour tomorrow. The newly constructed iron furnace has been lined with refractory clay and assembled. Supplies of fuel, in the form of coke, a product of coal combustion, have arrived and Eric and Will [...]
Buffalo, New York: April 8, 2010 Work on the molds for casting replica Worthington pump parts in iron continues with the packing of sand molds around the plastic replicas of the steam chest cover and damping piston cylinder head made at The Mariners’ Museum before we left Newport News. The sand molds were made by [...]
Preparations for Replica Worthington Parts Casting Buffalo, New York: April 7, 2010 Today Will and Eric are continuing preparations for casting replicas of two components of the port side Worthington pump. As a first step, multiple replicas have been cast in polyurethane plastic by taking two part rubber molds of the original artifacts. The plastic [...]
