Category: Restoration

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Drone’s-eye view of Graves Light

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Randy Clark took this picture via drone while helping with carpentry at Graves.

Randy Clark took this picture via drone while helping with carpentry at Graves.

Our pal Randy Clark took this nifty shot of master carpenter Karl Phillips sanding the new mahogany railing prior to installing it on the 4th level stairwell.

Look closely and you can see some of the work we’ve done:

  • Power-washed the stone exterior, which used to be streaked with black soot and grime;
  • Replaced the mortar between the stone blocks;
  • Removed the block-glass windows and restored the original appearance with oak casement windows (that Karl Phillips built);
  • Cleaned and painted the iron railing around the watch deck;
  • Cleaned and painted the bronze circular wall, as shown (in black), on the watch deck;
  • Installed vintage brass portholes in the bronze wall of the watch deck, to provide natural light in the interior;
  • Cleaned and re-caulked the original curved glass panes of the lantern deck;
  • Installed an exact replica of the interior mahogany staircase railings (which Karl is shown sanding on the outside deck).

A photographer by trade, Randy also swung a hammer to fix the shed while piloting his new drone. Thanks Randy!

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What’s going on down below

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Greg and Greg deliver the compressor.

Greg and Greg deliver the compressor from shore to Graves Light.

We’ve told you a lot of the more glamorous activity going on at the top of the tower, but there’s lots down below, too.

Lloyd and Greg unload the compressor from the boat and hoist it up to the dock at Graves Light.

Lloyd and Greg unload the compressor from the boat and hoist it up to the dock at Graves Light.

At high tide this week, Boston Harbor Cruises delivered the big air compressor so Derosier Bros. Painting & Sandblasting can give the steel pilings under the deck a fresh coat of marine-grade paint.

That’s no easy task. They painters must work suspended from above at high tide, and lower down to the rocks at low tide.

Graves isn’t their first lighthouse, and it probably won’t be their last.

Boston Harbor Cruises are the folks who bring you the lighthouse cruises, ferries, water taxis, whale watches, and Codzilla.

Many thanks to Graves veterans Robbie and Larry, and Lloyd and Bob. And thanks to Greg & Greg from BHC for driving!

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Bronze rails in the lantern room

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John builds the bronze lantern railing so that we can have an open area and still keep the beacon secure as a US Coast Guard aid to navigation.

John builds the bronze lantern railing so that we can have an open area and still keep the beacon secure as a US Coast Guard aid to navigation.

Remember those bronze castings we made over the winter? John and John from Nelson Metal Fabrication machined them to perfection and fitted pickets and rails made up in their Portland, Maine shop.

John installs the bronze lantern railing. The solar-powered beacon is visible at top right.

John installs the bronze lantern railing. The solar-powered beacon is visible at top right.

Then they brought them out to Graves and hoisted them up the ladder and into the lantern room.

Three days later, the results are amazing.

Graves Light remains an active aid to navigation. We have to make sure that while we make as much use as we can of the lantern room, the topmost level of the tower, we have to keep the solar-powered lantern safe and free of obstructions. We also have to make sure it remains accessible to the Coast Guard for their maintenance visits.

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Oak ceiling is put in place

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G installs the 5th floor ceiling

G installs the new 5th floor ceiling, an exact reproduction of the original, surviving parts of which were left in place.

Remember the oak ceiling we showed being built on Nantucket back in April? It’s now installed at Graves Light.

Karl installs the 5th floor ceiling

Karl Phillips puts the new oak ceiling panels in place.

Master carpenter Karl Phillips built perfect replicas at his Driftwood Construction shop, based on surviving original panels and the original architectural drawings.

Karl and G put the new oak panels in place up on the 5th floor library of the lighthouse. G is performing the trimming and shaping.

Karl did most of the other woodwork at Graves, too, including reconstructed oak windows based on the original casement design, interior oak window panels and sills, interior oak doors, and the mahogany staircase handrails.

As we’d previously noted, we decided to leave the original damaged ceiling panels in place, covering them with the new ones to give some future renovators a surprise.

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Bunk room ‘almost ready’ – lots more work going on

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First look at the new Bunk Room at Graves Light, June 2015.

First look at the new Bunk Room at Graves Light, June 2015.

What an amazing week out at Graves!

Carpenters Nat, Karl, Will, and Peter are installing the new mahogany stair rails (see where brass castings of the original fixtures were made) and bunk beds, finishing the windows, and hanging the interior doors.

We’ve never seen this level of activity inside the tower, and it’s really getting exciting out here.

As a safety test, the carpenters camped out a couple of nights. They proclaim the bunk room “almost ready.”

 

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New brass castings set to restore mahogany handrail

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John Nelson at work on the new brass fittings we custom-cast to restore the handrail system.

John Nelson at work on the new brass fittings we custom-cast to restore the handrail system.

Here’s a sneak peek from John Nelson’s metal shop in Portland, Maine.

John is coming down to install a beautiful reproduction of the original railing system, complete with a mahogany handrail.

Over the winter, we designed and cast some of the brass parts for this railing. It will be exciting to see the finished results. Of course we’ll keep everyone posted.

Follow John Nelson on Instagram @nelsonmetalfab, and like his shop, Nelson Metal Fabrication, on Facebook.

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Refinishing the old oak floor

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GL floor1 2015.06.06
Busy day on station. We finished painting the watch deck this weekend, and managed to cover everyone in black paint.

Then we sanded and coated the bunk room floor in anticipation of the arrival of our new bunk beds this week.

That old oak floor sure does look fresh, thanks to Jack, Emmett and Matt. Meanwhile, Wyatt and Paul took care of the rest of the watch deck.

 

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Discovered: Original Fresnel Lens rotation mechanism

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Polishing a century of grime from one of the brackets of the original First Order Fresnel lens rotation mechanism.

Polishing a century of grime from one of the brackets of the original First Order Fresnel lens rotation mechanism.

Ever wonder how the giant First Order Fresnel lens rotated to produce that smooth, sweeping beam lf light?

The good guys at the US Coast Guard revealed the secret by sending us the old engineering drawings of parts of the original mechanism, which are still bolted to the 5th level ceiling.

Since that ceiling is being restored, we figured we’d take the mechanism down and clean it up, which we did this week at home.

Here’s how it worked: Every two hours the Keepers wound a 300-lb weight up a 50-foot tube using a hand crank. The weight was connected by a series of pulleys (pictured) and connected to a big clockwork device, which regulated the speed and drove a gear that spun the two-ton lens.

The system was converted to an electric motor long ago, but happily the Coast Guard left all the old stuff in place, which made it possible for us to tell the story.

 

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On the watch deck for second paint party of 2015

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The second paint party of the season got underway Memorial Day weekend as the watch deck got a fresh coat of regulation black epoxy paint.

Local harbor seals and early striped bass fishermen all crowded in for a good look at our progress.

We got about four-fifths of it done before we ran out of paint and out of steam. It was hard work.

Hats of to Jack S and the Firehouse Gang. The deck probably hadn’t had a coat of paint in over 20 years.

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Springtime stabilization & restoration begins

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Karl Phillips installs a faithful replacement of the original oak window sills.

Karl Phillips installs a faithful replacement of the original oak window sills.

A busy springtime week at Graves Light.

Karl Phillips, our master carpenter, puts the finishing touches on the new oak window sills and paneled surrounds that he made over the winter at his Nantucket workshop.

There are nine of these square windows at Graves Light.

Last year, Karl built exact reproductions of the original casement windows, installing them in time for winter to replace the un-authentic glass block that the Coast Guard had installed for easy maintenance once the original windows deteriorated.

Meanwhile, Mike and Brian Sylvester of CCI, who cleaned and pointed the outside of the tower last season, are now inside the lighthouse. They’re removing the rust that was eating away at the steel floor joists.

As the joists rusted, the expanding iron crushed and split the interior wall, breaking up the curved glazed bricks. About five of the joists need to be excavated from the walls, cleaned and painted, and the brick space around them re-tiled.

The “tiles” are actually glazed bricks. To do the re-tiling, we’re going to steal some curved glazed bricks from under the stairs, to keep the walls original.

 

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