Wrought Iron Cross

Cathedral Restoration

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Cathedral Restoration - It sits atop the peek of the Catholic Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota. This picture shows the Cathedral’s restoration in progress. More information about the restoration at www.cathedralcamsp.org

This cross is about 100 years old. It is mostly cast iron and weighs about 1500 pounds. With the bowl shaped base, the cross is over 14 feet tall.

This is the special alloy aluminum that will be used to build the replica cross. The special alloy is necessary because of anodizing process that will be used to color the cross gold.
	This piece will attach the cross to the top of the Cathedral. It will help make final installation easier. This part is already installed on the peek of the Cathedral.

Fleur De Lis Most of the cast iron pieces are made of irregular shapes. These shapes are copied using plastic templates. These templates are fitted to the surface then cut out to match the shape.
	Scanner & Printer The templates are then scanned into the computer and converted to an outline that can be cut out with our CNC plasma cutter. If necessary, the outline can be printed onto paper to verify that it is accurate.
Fleur De Lis Layout This is the layout of the pieces needed to reproduce one Fleur De Lis.
	Argon Cabinet During the welding process, oxidation occurs which caused impurities in the weld. Most welding today reduces these impurities by shieding the welding area with an inert gas like argon. This process however, does not completely eliminate all of the impurities. Because the final finish of this cross will be a gold anodized color, surfaces with impurities will be a darker color than the rest of the cross. In order to reduce these impurities even more, the majority of the cross will be welded together inside a sealed cabined filled with argon.
Argon Nozzles The larger pieces that will not fit into the cabinet will be welded using these nozzles. These special nozzles will produce a much larger than normal shield of argon over the surface as it is being welded.
	RadiusSegment Side by side comparison of the old cast iron segment on the left and the new aluminum segment on the right.
Jigs 1 Special jigs and forms had to be made to hold and shape all of the pieces so they will match the original cross exactly.
	Base Shape “A contour gauge was used to copy the shape of the base’
Base Outline “This outline was traced and then scanned into the computer. The computer can then be used to measure the length of the side and the diameter of the base at specific points.”
	Base Layout “These dimensions are then used to determine the size and shape of the pieces needed to make the base. This the layout of the pieces needed to make the base.”

Creative Energy CO-OP “A film crew came down from Minneapolis to document the building of the cross. They have been to Little Cedar three times to film different stages of construction. This crew is documenting the entire restoration of the Cathedral. Visit their web site at www.electricpco.com. You can see video segments on the Cathedral web page listed above.”

	KIMT “KIMT – Channel 3 from Mason City, IA. also came to Little Cedar to film a news segment about the cross restoration.”
Fleur De Lis “This is one of the completed Fleur De Lis.”
	Scroll “This is one of the completed Scrolls”
Base “This is the completed Base”
	Almost Done “The aluminum cross is fully assembled to check that everything fits. The next step is to finish smoothing and polishing all of the pieces and then bead blast everything so it is completely clean before it is anodized. The completed aluminum cross is exactly the same size as the cast iron cross but only weighs 450 pounds.”
Cross Displayed at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul
New Cross when it was Displayed at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul
The new cross was raised above the Cathedral of Saint Paul and installed in its final resting place over 300 feet above the city. *This project is now complete.*

Photo Album on Display at Freeman & Friends - 609 Main Street - Osage, Iowa

Old Cross being Repaired and put back together
I am now in the process of repairing the original cross piece by piece and putting it back to its original Glory! The Old Cross will be displayed outside of St. Paul Cathedral.
	The Original Cross casting was made in 1914. It looks like it has been broke for approximately 60 years. I have repaired all broken pieces. Email me if you have any idea on how this was repaired and I'll email you back and let you know if your right. daniel@freemansmetalart.com