Blow Torches and the Art of Bronze Statue Restoration

Why It’s Important

The Shrine grounds are blessed by numerous life-size bronze statues, including that of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha sculpted by Cynthia Hitschler, which was commissioned with the help of the Native American community. Because the statues are exposed to the elements, it is important to care for them to ensure they last for years to come. But maintaining bronze requires a slightly unusual method: blow torching.

The Art of Blow Torching

“Bronze is a very porous material,” explains the Shrine’s maintenance supervisor Steve Meyers. “By heating it up, the old wax actually will liquify and allow you to apply new wax overtop. It allows you to get a nice sheen. By liquifying it, it allows it to go into the pores really nicely and gets any moisture out of it also.”

Meyers and his team use a dual method of extreme heat and wax to maintain and restore the statues to their original beauty. They first heat the bronze and then apply Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax before buffing the statues with cloth.

This method requires artistry and sufficient knowledge of metal in order to wax the statues without damaging them.

Says Meyers, “You have to have some knowledge of metal and how to heat it. For example, the base of this statue gets very small and thin. So you would not want to start with the base and get it too hot before you heat the rest, because then there is a danger of it cracking.”

Maintaining the Beauty for Years to Come

Meyers says that he was inspired by the way that Hillsdale College maintains their bronze statues. After doing research into how Hillsdale cleaned their statues, he decided to employ it at the Shrine.

This year marks the second year that the Shrine has cleaned her bronze statues annually. Before last, it had been many years since the statues had been cleaned. Thanks to the research and ingenuity of Meyers, the Shrine’s statues will continue to be a beautiful Shrine landmark for pilgrims over many years.