About Ironwood

Beginning

Joseph Hensel has been preserving industrial artifacts since the 60s. He salvaged wood patterns , drawings, architectural and mechanical salvage from the US Steel works in Johnstown,Pa. as well as other Steel Mills in the rustbelt.

This Steel Works which evolved to US Steel Johnstown Pa Works was built by the JOHNSTOWN TRACTION CO. in 1883 making STREET CAR and RxR sections.

Engineers designed steel & iron castings

Drawings

Ink on drawing cloth was used by engineers and architects from the 1850s until the 1950s. Pencil on Polyester followed until C.A.D. automated the process in the 70s & 80s.

Master Carpenters

Master Carpenters carved wood foundry patterns per the detail drawings from engineering.

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Molten steel / iron

Molten Steel / Iron was poured into the cavity left by pressing the wood patterns into sand mold boxes. The patterns were put back in storage, sometimes for 100+ years

The wood foundry patterns

The wood foundry patterns were purchased by Joseph

Industrial powerhouse

The molds made from the patterns were used to build the machines that made America the once great industrial power.

Sculpture

Joseph sells the upcylced patterns at juried art shows in the northeast to the mid west. Franco Harris was a fan at the Shadyside ,Pgh. Show

Hotel Indigo, University-Oakland

When Hotel Indigo requested provenance on the 10 ton ladle they purchased to position in the main lobby, Joseph requested the help of the chief engineer at the old U.S. Steel mill, who showed him to the fire vault.

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The fire vault

The fire vault secured the original mechanical and architectural drawings dating from the late 1800s thru the 1990s.

History

The machines ,buildings and railcars on the drawings were obsolete. So I reached an agreement with the owners of the building to purchase the Industrial history in drawings housed in the fire vault .

disassembled the flat files

We disassembled the flat files and rebuilt them on the opposite of the building.

We blew a hole

We blew a hole in the wall and reassembled the flat files on custom skids.

With professionals

With professionals and the right equipment we extracted the cabinets without any damage.

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The 1800s building is gone

The 1800s office building is gone, along with most of the mill buildings but the history remains. In addition to the drawings ,I salvaged documents, plant photographs, employee accident reports & mug shots , product catalogs dating back to the late 1800s. The more significant drawings are being digitally preserved on https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Aacacc-jsic Thanks to Dr.Zaborowski and her amazing staff.