Outdoor Sculpture

During my summer with the Central Park Conservancy, I gained experience with outdoor sculpture. One particular project stands out from that summer, which was the replacement of a stolen bayonet from the 107th Infantry Memorial on the east side of the park. There is a long history of the bayonets from the sculpture being broken off and stolen, records from 30s and 40s mention vandals that would take them in the middle of the night. Copies of the bayonets are kept in reserve however, this summer there was only one left. Using this remaining copy, we created a mold so that we could cast additional bayonets via the lost wax method.

A silicone and plaster mold was made in order to form the wax cast. I then chased the wax bayonet to ensure that the piece was how we wanted it, then added the vents. We then used a slurry mixture and silica to encase the wax for the bronze casting. We all assisted in the foundry process and successfully cast two more bayonets, which would need to be sandblasted before use.

Finally, I assisted the conservator in TIG welding the replacement bayonet onto the sculpture itself. We decided to add a rod through the hilt to ensure that the bayonet would be more difficult to break off in the future.