Monel alloy 400 is a preservation quandary. While conservation of historic metals outdoors has always been challenging, the difficulty is all the worse when the manufacturer has gone out of business and documentation is almost entirely lost. While alloy 400’s popularity failed to outlive the man whose name the alloy bears, it’s savvy market positioning and prolific usage left us with a litany of architectural material to maintain. This “white metal,” a nickel-copper alloy is routinely misidentified and regularly suffers from a range of inappropriate treatments. This presentation will review the metal’s history and physical properties, place it in contemporary context, and discuss aesthetic intent to establish end goals for its preservation.

Presenters: James Churchill, Conservator, Kreilick Conservation, LLC, and Jack deBarbadillo, Chief Metallurgist, Special Metals Corporation
Moderator Richard Pieper, Columbia University

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