Abend Metal Repair

Owner/proprietor Arlene Abend is a trained experienced welder, restorer and practicing sculptor. Her custom built shop and studio is in the DeWitt area of Syracuse, NY.  Her reputation for quality work and excellent service spans some thirty years.  She can be reached at (315) 446-0324.

Arlene Abend works on items made of bronze, brass, cast iron, steel, aluminum and white metal. All repairs and restorations bring the antique as close to it’s original condition as possible. Frequently the work involves not only the actual repair, but re-sculpting and creating a matching patina.

The Syracuse newspaper printed the accompanying photo and article some years ago written by the Antique Reviewer, Columnist, Mario Rossi. In the column praising Arlene’s work he wrote: “the challenge is of such magnitude it can only be handled by a highly experienced expert, preferably one with a personal background as an artist. ARLENE ABEND fits easily in that category, especially since she has developed successful techniques for repairing metal art objects through combination of welding proficiency and artistic training and learning. ABEND, a recognized painter and sculpture, turned to restoration work about 25 years ago. Since she has always been interested in metal as an art medium, she decided to specialize in repair and restoration of antiques of brass cast iron and steel. She has developed great skill in restoring the patina of metal objects, her blending and matching work in this area complimenting basic repairs. In the field of replacement, she utilizes her sculpturing talents to furnish pieces for missing items. When someone picks up a repaired statuette and says, “I can’t find where it’s been fixed”, that’s the highest complement a restorer could hope for. It’s the sort of praise ARLENE ABEND frequently gets – and deserves.”

Metal Welding Services:
  – Antique Repair & Restoration
  – Sculpture Repair & Restoration
  – Custom Welding
  – General Metal Repair
  – Commissioned Sculpture
  – Written or Email Repair Estimates
  – Parts Casting
  – Patina Restoration

The photos below are of a highly detailed bronze, oriental, ornamental bowl. The antique was brought to ABEND METAL REPAIR in many pieces. The primary objective was to reattach all sections with no visible repair material. The patina of the repaired areas was also critical to the restoration.

The brass statue of Winged Mercury had fallen, was brought to ABEND METAL REPAIR for restoration. Beside the re-attachments of the parts, the right hand had a broken thumb and was missing a finger. It required sculpting a new finger, pinning, welding, reshaping and a patina on both fingers. ( Note: close-up in the third picture).

There are times a part that has been lost needs to be reproduced. The photo below shows an antique box handle that had to be duplicated, but not exactly since it was handmade by forging on an anvil. The original, technique was used to re-create the new pull. The customer was not able to tell which was the new pull. The claw foot in the right photo was cast from one provided by the customer. In both reproductions the patina work was done to re-create the look of years of use.

This beautiful, classic, bronze portrait was converted into a table lamp by drilling 6 holes in the head and base. The challenge was to return the piece to its original condition. The work consisted of special drilling and inserts of matching material, reshaping, re-texturing and matching the patina. The owner was not able to determine where the holes had been.

The eighty-five pound, over four feet tall, cast, white metal figure was shipped from India. The owner brought the broken statue to ABEND METAL REPAIR with little hope that it was repairable. With the use of a 1000 lb chain hoist, ( to maneuver the sculpture ), reinforcing rod, special epoxy, grinding tools and a mixture of five metallic colors, the restoration was both strong and visually successful.

References and additional photographs of previous work are available. Call for an appointment to bring a repair or email photos for a free estimate. Phone 315-446-0324 or email AAbend@twcny.rr.com.

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Thanks for visiting.  Happy Trails.