CREATIONS BY DUGIE Norman "Dugie" Russell |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Restoring the Artifacts |
| My faithful tender "Tora". She was always concerned when I went under. When I came up her tail would almost come off from wagging so hard. |
| Two Revere spikes jutting out of the rocks. Tucked in beside the bottom spike is a brass belt buckle. It came from the uniform of a member of the N.Y. Navy Militia. I only found two in my days of diving the New Hampshire. I sold one and kept the other. If there is anyone out there who might have pictures or articles on the New Hampshire or the N.Y. Navy Militia, I would love to hear from you. I loaned out many pictures and information years ago, never to be seen again. |
| The left corner of the buckle was melted away, but I think it gives the piece more character. |
| Artifacts encased in sea cement. You can see a Revere spike protruding from one of the clusters. |
| Square-headed decking nails, round-headed sheeting nails, and of course, the Revere spike. On the right are clusters of sea cement waiting to be explored. |
| I put this picture in because this was one of my most prolific dives on the New Hampshire. I got twenty-two spikes that day. I lost hundreds of slides in a flood, but I just couldn't throw this one out. A handful from the same dive. |
| A few spoons cleaned up. |
| These spikes, and pieces of spikes, have been partially cleaned. Look at the bottom spike, the middle spike that has melted, and the top right spike that has also melted and compare them after restoration side by side. |
| A trunnel pin with washer. |
| The washers in the lower right were used to hold the trunnel pins in place after the pins were driven into the timbers. |
| I leave the wood and pins as I found them, if people want it that way. |
| My collection of trunnel pins. Look at the "L" shaped pin, lower left. You will see it cleaned up in a subsequent photo. |
| The trunnel pin I am holding weighs 32 pounds, is 1.4 inches wide and is 46 inches long. It held two timbers together, each one twenty-three inches wide. I'm keeping it for old times sake. |
| I had hundreds of them. It was dirty, dusty, stunk to high heaven and it took forever. Then the light went on. I had an idea!! Let my kids do it!! This didn't go over well. If it was today, I would be in jail. (Something to do with the child labor laws) |
| Forty years ago, I cleaned each nail, pin and spike on a wire wheel, one at a time. |
| One day someone said, "Dugie, why don't you get a tumbler?" I did...and I felt like the guy who invented the wheel. I could clean and polish a couple hundred items while I was sleeping. I'm still looking for a way to do the large pins, but I don't have a sand blaster!!! |
| An unfinished candle holder. |
| A piece of copper sheeting with the old and refurbished nails. |
| Finished candle holders. |
| A matched pair turned from a Revere trunnel pin. |
| An assortment of bullets recovered from the wreck. A friend of mine was hammering out some sea cement underwater one day and inadvertently fired one of the live bullets. His ears stopped ringing four days later. |
| These are what I call 'Nuggets'. They consist of copper and bronze, and sometimes a mixture of both. They were formed when pools of molten bronze or copper fell through the cracks in the hull as the ship burnt, then cooled when they hit the cold water. Check out the spike. Half of it was cleaned with a combination of ketchup, lemon juice and Tabasco sauce. The combination works great. A quick swipe with Wrights Polish and they look like new. The only problem is my shop smells like Pancho Villas' kitchen. |
| 2 cannons turned from a large trunnel pin like the one in the photo. |
| These four Revere spikes clearly show the "U.S." Stamped in them to indicate the approval of the U.S. Navy Bureau of ships. What some people don't know is that they are also marked "U.S." four times under the head of the spike. They were pounded into the ship, went through two fires and bashed onto Graves Island by waves, which is why I have never seen the perfect spike with all five stamps intact. |
| A smaller cannon with a piece of bronze, frozen in time. |
