Project for August/September, 2010

Hazleton, PA High School

This project involved the restoration of four large wall brackets from 1927.  The fixtures were cast in iron and were painted with a bronze powder/lacquer finish, which was a standard finish for the manufacturer, The Smyser-Royer Company.

The Contractor removed the fixtures to facilitate scaffolding the room and dropped one, fracturing the cast bottom.  Not difficult to do with a five foot tall, 525 lb. lighting fixture.  Our task was to strip, re-finish, install new glass, including fitting 32 new pieces of bent glass  (only one panel was left), install new wiring (original lighting component was missing, and, finally devise a method the electrical contractor could use to re-install the fixtures.

The iron was abrasive-blasted to bare metal and a new painted finish was applied as specified.  The broken iron components were welded and ground.  New glass retaining brackets were made.  A rotating lifting bar was built, tested and video-taped to aid the contractor during installation.   Impressions were also taken of decorative elements and a CAD file made to aid in a possible reproduction in the future.