A project both five months and 75 years in the making wraps up this weekend at Waypoint Park. At 12:30pm on Saturday, the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club will dedicate a commemorative piece in honor of their 75 years of service on Bainbridge Island and beyond. The new medallion, shown above, is the product of 5 months of work by BARN’s Metal Fabrication Studio.
The Metal Fabrication team, led by studio lead David Hays, designed and constructed the piece from start to finish. Hays took the lead on the project’s concept design, creating the initial digital blueprint in Fusion 360® (a digital modeling program which, not incidentally, you can learn at BARN). After working through a number of different material options, the team chose to create an aluminum gear, Rotary’s logo, with cast bronze numbers highlighting Rotary’s 75th anniversary.
Machining on the aluminum gear was carried out by Mark McComsey, who ensured perfect precision on the lettering and detailed background.
Using 8-inch tall 7 & 5 digits that were 3D printed, Foundry team members Mario Oblak and Jeff Owens cast the bronze “75”. Each numeral was smoothed and given a gorgeous and long-lasting patina with ferric nitrate. Prior to the finishing process, Bob Mathisrud used TIG welding techniques (which you can also learn at BARN!) to fill some casting imperfections on the numbers.
The machined aluminum gear received a clear Cerakote® coating for enduring shine. The piece is designed to be both eye-catching and durable, with materials and finishes specifically chosen to stand up to permanent display outside.
The medallion will be installed at Waypoint Park, where it will be visible as a reminder of Rotary’s ongoing commitment to the community.
