Bob Dylan Black Buffalo Ironworks

THE CHALLENGE

Bradleys were approached as this gate, sculptured by Bob Dylan, had already been coated twice and started to corrode.

The gate was to be based in Arabia and we had to clean if off and apply a corrosion resistant finish suited to the environment, as well as replicate the various original colours.

This included replicating the brazed joints so that they appeared original and uncoated, as well as matching the original ‘used’ colour of the coating.

It was also a challenge to ensure that the moving parts, including chain links and a hook, would still function, and the famous Bob Dylan signature was still legible after coating.

THE SOLUTION

Before blast cleaning, Bradleys colour matched the various shades to ensure a perfectly matched top coat. Bradleys then applied a thermal pure zinc system to give long-life durability. The gate was finished with a durable clear coat for final protection.

THE DETAIL

Bob Dylan, well known for his albums and songs, is also well-known for sculpturing bespoke metal gates in his Black Buffalo Ironworks studio.

These pieces of art are sculptured out of a huge variety of metal objects, each fascinating component with its own curious and somewhat unknown history, resulting in an array of truly bespoke gates.

Bradleys enjoyed the challenge involved in coating a gate of Bob Dylan’s which was sculptured out of various curiosities including cogs, wheels, hammers and bearing, of course, the famous Black Buffalo marked with Bob Dylan’s autograph.

The chain that hooked across the gate had to still have individual moving links after coating and the cherry on the cake was a green sun dial, the coating was a concentrated green in the centre and gradually faded out to the edges!

Bob Dylan’s artwork required great attention to detail every step of the way and a very skilful hand to coat!