We have been quite busy in the turret these past weeks and are making great progress!

While Lesley, Kate and I worked inside the turret to gently deconcrete, remove the nutguards and clean behind them, Will has been fabricating custom-made anodes for said nutguards. He first welded together a large stainless steel table able to accommodate what is left of 6 nutguards. As seen in this image:

Will also made ingenious individual anodes that serve multiple purposes for the better preserved nutguards. These anodes were first used as support during the artifact’s removal (held by the overhead crane, see next picture); they will now serve as treatment supports for the nutguards and can conveniently be stored under the turret for electrolytic reduction: brilliant!!

Meanwhile, Mike has been documenting all of the fragments of nutguards, from the biggest to the smallest, and nuts that we have removed. He is also proceeding with more mechanical cleaning of the outside of the turret.

To date only 6 nutguards remain in their original location from the 21 in place 7 weeks ago. Not bad at all!!

Next week will be fun too as we will receive the visit of our great friend and avid fan: Fran ‘The Duke’ Ducoin! Fran will be taking photographs of the outside and of the inside of the turret in order to make panoramic views for precise documentation.

Stay tuned: more about the care of our favorite cheese box on a raft coming soon!