在实验室里一天

这是星期五下午，保守党索拉·桑乌尔没有说一句话;她不必说什么。她的笑容告诉整个故事。Elsa和Gary Paden，对象为美国的物品处理程序监视器Conservation Project, had just successfully removed a beautiful and shiny copper alloy tallow cup from监视器’s 25-ton steam engine when I walked into the engine treatment tank. They held the multi-component artifact with pride and examined it closely. It had the appearance of something Dr. Seuss would have invented. Two valve handles of different sizes extended from the smooth, round tallow reservoirs. A smaller drain spigot with a stout nozzle extended from one of the reservoirs. It looked ornate and stout, fantastical and practical. Engineers heated tallow or pig fat in these devices. The liquid fat would then drip into the steam engine’s valve chests, providing critical lubrication. Surprisingly, Elsa was able to turn one of the valve handles as if it the object was new. Smiles grew wider on their sweaty and sediment-covered faces.

They passed the tallow cup to me and I placed it in a plastic container filled with deionized water for safe storage and desalination on a workbench outside of the engine treatment tank. I labeled the container and lined it up with a dozen similar containers filled with other copper alloy engine components removed during the week. Conservation Technician Mike Saul walked up to the table with a clipboard and began documenting the condition of each engine component for entry into the artifact database and individual artifact treatment files. We stared at an amazing assortment of ten oil cups of various sizes removed from the engine’s rock shaft bearings and eccentric arms. A small drop of oil bubbled to the surface of the water in one container. “That’s original engine oil from the night the监视器沉没，“我说。迈克匆匆忙忙地抓住玻璃样品瓶，所以我们可以收集油以供以后分析。

A few minutes later, Assistant Conservator Will Hoffman stepped out of the tank and trudged across the lab leaving iron-stained boot marks on the lab floor. He was carrying something round and heavy, but I couldn’t identify what he was cradling in his muddy arms. “Here’s the wheel that controlled the engine’s steam throttle. I guess I’m the first person to turn this wheel since the ironclad sank back in ’62,” Will said as he reverently placed the copper alloy wheel in a yet another storage container. “It’s pretty heavy. I’m guessing it weighs about 25 pounds.” The wheel was clearly identifiable under a very thin layer of hard concretion, barnacles, and shell. A brass knob extended up from the wheel, likely to make operation of the wheel much easier. Will spent four hours removing the wheel from its iron axle on the front of the engine.

我在下午晚些时候与高级保守者Eric Nordgren蜷缩在一起，审查在发动机的各种表面上进行的X射线荧光（XRF）研究的结果。我们接受临时贷款的手持XRF单元能够准确地确定各种材料的材料组成。“戴夫，你不会相信Elsa和我发现XRF，”Eric说。这句话立即抓住了我的注意。“我们检测到痕量的基于油漆物质。现在我们为他们仍有原创油漆残留的地区有一个领先和钡'指纹'！“这是巨大的新闻。我们一直在仔细寻找原始油漆的可见遗留物品监视器Collection since 2001, but had minimal success – until now. Eric then pointed out the areas they analyzed with the XRF and very subtle color differences were visible to the naked eye. I looked at Eric and said, “This XRF is a game changer. Think of all the things we can learn about these materials if we owned one of these.” The wheels in Eric’s head started spinning as he reeled off a laundry list of artifacts to analyze with an XRF. I think I even saw smoke pouring from his ears.

I was amazed at how much we accomplished in the engine tank over the course of the week. We drained the 35,000 gallon engine tank Monday morning and began work in the tank after lunch. We worked until 5:00pm, ran sprinklers on the engine to keep it wet overnight, then hopped back into the engine tank the following morning. We repeated this process during the week and used a combination of mechanical and pneumatic tools, as well as lots of sweat and elbow grease. Our primary goals were to remove copper alloy components from the engine’s iron body for separate treatment and to make preparations for leveling and re-supporting the engine to facilitate additional cleaning and future disassembly. We also wanted to make good use of the XRF before our loan expired. Check, check, and check.

参观者通过观察窗口聚集和窥视，揭示实验室内部工作。当我们从发动机罐中取出我们的设备并准备在夏季剩余时间内填补了处理解决方案时，他们盯着我们的设备凝视着。保护助理Tina Gutshall放弃了一群旁观者，他们兴奋地放弃了。简单的互动提醒我们的重要性监视器保护项目和我们的旨在与当地，国家和国际受众分享Ironclad的故事。蒂娜说，“当我们今年夏天排除炮塔坦克时，博物馆游客是一个罕见的零食！”