Their lips aren’t sealed

Figure 1
A result of contributions from a network of southeast Iowa businesses, the Great Seal of the United States is assembled and ready to be shipped. Photos courtesy of Creative Metal Works.

It’s no secret that craftsmen in small towns all over the U.S. are capable of really big things. One example is Creative Metal Works Inc. in Lockridge, Iowa, a town of fewer than 300 about 125 miles southeast of Des Moines.

Mary and Shawn Skillman opened their shop in 2001 after moving from the West Coast. They had spent about 12 years working for a sign-making company there until the employer decided to dismantle the department that Shawn oversaw. The move to the Midwest was spurred by a desire for a change of pace, and when the couple launched their business, Mary said that they were motivated to hear from people who once worked with Shawn.

“When he started up again, people were just elated to have him back in the industry. Now they knew where they could go to get the quality work that they were used to,” she said.

Now customers seek out Mary and Shawn for custom waterjet cutting and metal finishing of solid metal letters, logos, and architectural elements for designers and sign-makers. That reputation led APCO Signs to ask Creative Metal Works to take on a special assignment.

APCO Signs wanted a large replica of the Great Seal of the United States (see Figure 1), which was to be hung on the side of a federal building. The company wanted the sign to be striking, at least 4 in. thick and made of stainless steel.

Mary, an artist who has learned to create plans for realistic fabrications from customers’ desires, knew that such a sign would be too heavy as a 4-in.-thick object.

“So you take those things and you tweak the design,” she said. “I suggested that they use a back plate of 0.5-in. aluminum because that would weigh less than stainless steel. We could then paint it and that would create a barrier between the aluminum and the stainless steel front. Plus it gave us a contrast of texture and color.”

Creative Metal Works cut all of the pieces for the 10-ft.-diameter Great Seal using its Jet Edge waterjet cutting machine. The 0.5-in.-thick aluminum backer was cut into two pieces to accommodate the raw material stock that was available.

Using their small-town connections, Mary reached out to her shop’s neighbor, Steffensmeier Welding in Pilot Grove, Iowa, to handle the welding (see Figure 2). The fabricator welded the backing piece and rolled and welded the 3-in. bar to the plate’s edge. The bar helped to provide the girth that the customer was looking for in its 4-in.-thick sign.

Another local business, Four Seasons Auto Body & Frame in Fairfield, Iowa, painted the back plate and other aluminum parts on the Great Seal.

Figure 2
As the Great Seal is loaded onto the truck, the back-side, zigzag weld that holds the two pieces together is evident.

As the back plate and bar were being painted, Shawn was drilling, tapping, countersinking, and applying the various finishes to the top layer of the stainless steel graphics. Mary said the brushed finishes on the stainless steel were the crowning glory of the Great Seal project (see Figure 3).

When the sign’s components were complete, Creative Metal Works rented space from another Jet Edge customer, Creative Edge Master Shop in Fairfield, Iowa, for final assembly and crating. It was time for delivery.

On-site, the Great Seal was to be hung on 18 mounting rods that were already embedded into the building’s exterior wall. Those rods matched up perfectly with the 2-in. holes on the sign. (To hide the mounting hardware, Mary designed caps for the holes that sat flush with the face of the Great Seal. The caps, cut on the waterjet, were machined by Bodenham Machine in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, so that they would sit down in the holes and be flush with the stainless steel surface.)

“We are honored to have been chosen for this very prestigious, high-profile project and are very appreciative of the efforts of our local southeast Iowa businesses,” Mary said. “It’s true. Sometimes it takes a village.”

Where is the Great Seal hanging? That’s a secret. Seriously, it’s the federal government, after all.

Creative Metal Works Inc., 319-696-2605, www.creativemetalworksinc.net

Jet Edge, 763-497-8700, www.jetedge.com

Figure 3
Shawn Skillman works on the top layer of the sign as the four-month project winds down.