Greetings
Iron and steel preservation should begin with knowledge of the industrial processes used in the fabrication of iron and steel structures. Riveting, an industrial process used in the fabrication of many famous structures in our vast infrastructure, is nearly forgotten. A popular media program recently described the process using field riveting and the high-flying hot rivet caught in a catcher’s can as an example of this industrial process. What was left out of this narrative was more than a hundred years of industrial history and the skilled shop craftsmen who operated the shop-driven pneumatic riveters. I’ve also discovered that no major industrial museum in the USA has any displays of field or shop riveting equipment or any description of the industrial riveting process, even though many of these museums are housed in magnificent, riveted buildings. Promoting the fabrication of new riveted structures could lead to a better understanding of the industrial rivet process and to intelligent approaches for the preservation of historic riveted structures. Riveting will never achieve the level it once did but could be part of a structure’s architectural features that combine function and aesthetics. Bach Steel in St Johns, Michigan, had an opportunity to rivet a new structure to display Detroit’s Unity Bell, featured in the February Iron & Steel Chronicle.
Vern Mesler 2022
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It began with my introduction to an artist craftsman and his art-filled Detroit compound. We were led through spaces filled with new and old art, and old relics from Detroit’s historic past. Stored on wood pallets were sections of a historic riveted truss bridge, rusted, bent, pieces of a once-stately structure that had spanned the Rouge River. This craftsman’s idea was to create a large arched gateway using sections of the bridge along with new riveted sections to display at some prominent location in Detroit. |
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To prepare for this greater event, we were led to another historic piece that populated his collection of Detroit artifacts: a large bronze bell. Weighing nearly three tons, the late nineteenth century bell was a sound Detroiters heard from the Old City Hall until the building was demolished in 1961 and the bell lay abandoned. Rescued by Carlos Nielbock of C.A.N. Art Handworks, the artist craftsman whose shop we’d been touring, the bell now hung in a frame fabricated with found steel members and held in place with a large nut, frozen in place. Nielbock’s vision for this Detroit artifact was that it ring at the historic Eastern Market, displayed in a riveted frame.
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My first idea for the frame was met with a kind but firm rebuff from Nielbock, “That looks great! Unfortunately, we have to go with the cube design.” An eight-foot cube began to take shape using the 3D drawing program Sketchup, and, with Nielbock’s approval, a final version evolved. Several engineers reviewed the design. Engineering adviser Dr. Frank Hatfield, Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University, commented, “The overall design is clearly the work of an artist, not an engineer.” Dr. Hatfield had worked with me as an engineering adviser at the Calhoun County Historic Bridge Park and respects craftsmen’s art. He added his expertise to reduce the weight and improve the stability of the frame without changing the overall concept, giving it “the strong impression of strength.”
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With support and encouragement from the Lansing Community College welding staff (a group of industrial craftsmen dedicated to the preservation of the industrial riveting process), a craftsman with years of experience preserving historic riveted truss bridges was asked to consider fabricating the bell frame. Nels Raynor, whose rough-edged shopman persona belies an artist, is someone who can operate a large industrial forklift and the tools of a steel fabricator with the same sensitive touch as any notable American sculptor.
With Raynor’s approval, his Office Manager Nathan Holth and his Chief Estimator and Accountant Heather Raynor began purchasing the material for the fabrication for the Unity Bell’s riveted frame. On November 12, 2021, stacks of steel plate, precision cut with ALRO Steel’s plasma cutting systems, were ready for delivery to Raynor’s shop, Bach Steel in St. Johns, Michigan. Converting Sketchup prints to ALRO's plasma cutting systems produced plates with accurate shapes and holes ready for riveting.
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By mid-November, Raynor had the Unity Bell frame material prepped and ready for assembly; fabrication and riveting of the frame began. First, Raynor and his son Brock Raynor bolted and riveted sub-assemblies with 3/4” rivets driven with Bach Steel’s new hydraulic riveter. As the work progressed, Raynor involved more of his fabrication crew to finish riveting the Unity Bell frame and prepare it for shipping to Detroit. |
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On December 15, 2021, Raynor, along with his son Brock and employee Lee Pung, arrived at Nielbock’s shop with the riveted frame loaded on a flatbed trailer. With a rented boom forklift, Raynor and his crew moved the Unity Bell from Nielbock’s yard into his shop, then unloaded the frame from the trailer to place beside the bell. Nielbock would continue the work by creating lettering and other finishing touches to make the frame and bell ready for display. |
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Originally scheduled to be installed at Shed 3 in Detroit’s Eastern Market for the December and January holidays in time for the Unity Bell’s 150th anniversary, the 2021/2022 event was canceled at the last minute due to a COVID-19 surge in Michigan. The Eastern Market Development Corporation (EMDC) and Nielbock’s C.A.N. Art Handworks are working on plans for an outdoors installation at the Eastern Market.
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Please consider contributing to the Iron and Steel Preservation Program Fund. This fund was established to support projects, research, conferences and scholarships related to the repair, rehabilitation, and restoration of metals. The Lansing Community College Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation.
Select “Other” under “Designation” and type in “Iron and Steel Preservation.”
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