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Replica of a classic balustrade; made in cooperation with a monument conservator -
case study
Location: coastal town of Mers-les-Bains, northern France
Directive: Make a replica of the railing, manufactured originally with the metal casting process. All decorative elements are to be consulted with the local conservator.
The original balustrade corroded due to many years of exposure to aggressive coastal weather.
At the customer's request, the balustrade was additionally coated with zinc. This requirement prevents joining the openwork elements by welding smaller fragments (please note the main element forming the balustrade body - a circle with star-like rods).
This element has been designed for cutting from a single sheet of metal with laser cutting technology.
Why wasn't "welding the flat bars" possible? It was due to the zinc coating requirement. The balustrade was designed to imitate the original without visible welds (not present in the original cast element). "Smooth" sanding of welded joints doesn’t help if the element is later hot-dip galvanized. Joints will swell and become visible after painting. This is due to the occurrence of internal stress after welding with a different silicon content in the weld and the parent material (elements that we weld together). Different silicon content is responsible for the so-called Sandelin effect - the formation of an iron-zinc alloy on the surface of the element.
Another issue is the fact that manufacturing each element manually while maintaining adequate repeatability of the shape would be very time-consuming and generate much higher costs.
Fragment of the balustrade after hot-dip galvanizing
Ready balustrade after installation.
If you choose a hot-dip galvanized and painted balustrade or fence, select a design in which the joints are part of the composition or simply do not impair the aesthetics, if they are visible. Keep in mind that some contractors (often under the pressure of the customer) smooth the joints by sanding them after galvanizing and before painting. Such action impairs the protective coating and causes corrosion to appear much sooner.
niessbernard on Visualhunt / CC BY