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Iron & Steel Preservation
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While this newsletter has lain dormant for the last three months, our rivet training and exploring riveted structures have not diminished. Memorable was working with
Mike Piersa, Museum Historian at the Nation Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, conducting rivet workshops, and a New York City trip walking along the High Line and touring the historic steam-powered lighthouse tender The Lilac.
To finish the year 2019, my wife Nan Jackson and I visited the San Francisco Bay Area (enjoying a walk on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, recently opened to pedestrians) and took a road trip through the Midwest and Texas, beginning with a meeting with David Simmons in Columbus, Ohio. David has been a long-time supporter of the iron and steel preservation work I've been involved in and is the author of a wonderful and informative history of the Boyer field rivet hammer, "The Continuous Clatter." *
Cancelling the October 2019 Iron & Steel Preservation Conference (due to low enrollment) was a great disappointment. We are currently focusing on customized on-demand courses, now available through Lansing Community College (information on these can be seen below).
*Simmons, D. A. (1997). "The Continuous Clatter": Practical Field Riveting. IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology, 5-20.
Vern Mesler
Iron & Steel Preservation
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Customized Courses and Presentations
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Courses are customized, with the curriculum developed in collaboration with the customer. Lansing Community College has a talented staff with years of experience both in the welding trades and in teaching. Training sessions are hands-on, with student-to-faculty ratio usually one-to-one or two-to-one. Students have access to state-of-the-art equipment from Lincoln Electric.
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Vern Mesler is available to do customized presentations related to: Preservation and Rehabilitation of Riveted Structures, Wrought Iron, Historic Steel, Cast Iron
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National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
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Rivet Workshop for Steel Weekend at the National Museum of Industrial History, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Left: Vern Mesler with workshop participants; Right: Mike Piersa (Museum Historian) and Vern Mesler
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High Line, a historic elevated freight line in New York City, is a unique public park enjoyed by New Yorkers and visitors from around the world. For more information about the High Line, visit their website.
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Lansing Community College Rivet Demonstration
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Lansing Community College structural fabrication and architectural students attended a rivet demonstration on November 6, 2019. The demonstration was held in LCC's impressive welding robotics lab containing the college's advanced welding technology, including virtual welding equipment.
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#60 Boyer Field Rivet Hammer
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LCC welding instructors Jeff Haynes, Roger Morrison and Jeff Seelye (left to right) form the expert rivet crew
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Morrison guides a student in using the rivet hammer.
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Scott Poe (LCC welding instructor) disassembles the rivet training fixture, assisted by a welding student. The rivets are released, allowing students to examine the entire rivet.
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Recently opened Bicycle/Pedestrian Path on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area allows for a close-up look at the riveted structure. The bridge was constructed 1953-1956.
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An Educational Tool for Craftsmen
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This power hammer was donated to the
Blacksmith Association of Missouri (BAM).
Their motto: "Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the blacksmithing art and craft." The powerhammer was finely tuned and ready to educate, with courses already under development to be offered through BAM.
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Bernard Tappel: craftsman at work with a fine-tuned tool, at his blacksmith shop in Osage Bluff, Missouri
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Bernard Tappel (BAM) and Vern Mesler
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Jim Cooper, Historian and Craftsman
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A historian who understands the value of craftsmen and their unwritten record in historic riveted bridges, Jim Cooper has been a friend and colleague for many years, contributing his expertise at iron and steel preservation workshops we both organized and ran. Jim is the author of "Iron Monuments to Distant Posterity," a book that identifies and records the history of iron and steel bridges in Indiana.
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Subjects to be featured in the next ISP Newsletter: the historic steam-powered lighthouse tender The Lilac (New York City) and the Waco Suspension Bridge
rehabilitation 2020 project (Texas).
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Program Fund
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.
Donate Here
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Past Iron & Steel Preservation Newsletters
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Thank you to our 2019 donors!
We appreciate the many contributions to the Iron and Steel Preservation Program Fund during the past year.
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Sponsor
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Want to become a sponsor?
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Lansing Community College
5708 Cornerstone Drive
PO Box 40010
, MC 4100W
Lansing, MI 48917
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Copyright © 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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