ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
National Park Service carpenter David Bogdan works on the new water wheel being built at the Saugus Iron Works.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — Crews are ironing out historical restoration projects at Saugus Iron Works.
David Bogdan and Rick Saulnier, carpenters for the National Park Service, have maintained structures at the national historic site known as the birthplace of the American iron and steel industry, for more than 30 years.
The pair completed a massive restoration project in the 1980s that included repair of the park’s water wheels that have slowly deteriorated and occasionally needed repairs. One wheel was replaced in the 1990s, and another in 2005.
They are replacing the north wheel at the Rolling and Slitting Mill station, which would have been used to flatten the final iron product when the plant was in operation. The wheel is the park’s largest at 17 feet in diameter and 36 inches wide.
Iron Works was one of the first successful plants for the production of cast and wrought iron. At the 9-acre site, cast iron was converted to wrought iron and shipped up the Saugus River to be sold to blacksmiths.
Today, it features working water wheels, hot forges, mills, a historic 17th century home and a museum. Visitors tour replicas of the industrial buildings used in the 1690s to 1670s, which were constructed in the 1950s. Several items from the original structures can be found on display in the museum.
Pieces of the original wheel were found, which indicated to historians that the machinery was created using eastern white pine and oak.
“In 1668, when it fell into ruins, it fell into the water trough which preserved it,” Bogdan said. “We try to stay authentic. That’s what was plentiful at the time, so that’s what we go with.”
The team pays close attention to preserving authentic details, including the saw marks on the wood. Pieces are cut using vertical saws and band saws to avoid circular saw marks, which wouldn’t have been found on the original planks. Bogdan said 300 years ago, they would have used a saw pit.
Bogdan and Saulnier use the forge to heat up iron bands to be placed on the shafts. They also still use a broadax and a hammer and chisel. Because of these aspects, finding the appropriate materials and completing the projects is more tedious and time consuming.
The new wheel is mostly made from white oak and some red oak. The bucket boards on the rim of the wheel are made from eastern white pine. The original was constructed using larger wooden pieces, but Bogdan said using the smaller pieces bolted together makes for a stronger structure. The white oak is also more resistant to decay, he said.
The wheels are expected to have a lifespan of about 15 years because the constant wetting and drying is detrimental to its strength. But, the original would have been constantly running, and constantly wet.
There’s no record of how long the original wheel lasted, but Bogdan said it’s likely to have survived the 22 years the mill was in operation.
Together the new wheel and its shaft, which is about 32 feet in length, are estimated to weigh more than 4 tons. The goal is for it to be completed by October before the park closes for the season. Once the project is complete, Bogdan and Saulnier will move on to tackle the two smaller wheels in the forge.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.
