Metal 3D printing technology from UK-based engineering company Renishaw is being used to replicate an early-12th century candlestick in a collaboration with Gloucester Cathedral and the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London.
The original candlestick, currently on show at the V&A, is an incredibly ornate example of early-12th century metalwork and was said to have been given to the church of St Peter, now Gloucester Cathedral, by Abbot Peter, who held the post from 1107-13. Now, the Cathedral plans to familiarise visitors with this piece of local history via an exact replica made through a combination of 3D scanning and metal additive manufacturing.
“Because of the Gloucester Candlestick’s complexity, there is no other way to reproduce it than additive manufacturing,” explained Paul Govan, Customer Training Manager at Renishaw and chief facilitator of this heritage preservation project. “The candlestick is composed of three distinct sections, each with intricate openwork decoration and a patina that has accumulated over 900 years. Renishaw used 3D scans of the original candlestick to reverse engineer each aspect of the design to recreate this historic masterpiece in all its original glory.”
The team took a 3D scan of the original artefact in an effort to capture every element of foliage on the elaborately detailed ornament, which was originally cast using a brass alloy with unusually high silver content. A Renishaw RenAM 500Q multi-laser metal powder bed fusion system was then employed to build the replica in aluminium powder. The team had initially planned on using titanium powder but chose to manufacture in aluminium due to its malleable properties and ease of finishing, which allowed a higher level of detail to be attained.
The original candlestick will remain on show at the V&A Museum, while the Renishaw manufactured replica will be displayed and used at Gloucester Cathedral.
