Preserving Aircraft Rivets & Swarf

On two separate occasions recently, I have been asked to preserve rivets and swarf that were taken from the restoration of aircraft. I was contacted by a gentleman whose mother and father used to work on the Vulcan Bombers. He wanted me to preserve a small selection of rivets from the last flying Vulcan, serial number XH558. The Vulcan Bomber XH558 is currently in a museum and looked after by the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

I received the rivets for preserving inside a resin paperweight and these are the labels that were displayed on the box containing the rivets. Firstly, an image of the Vulcan Bomber XH558.

Vulcan Bomber XH558

And on the reverse side of the box there are details of the rivets that were from the Vulcan Bomber XH558, including the 1965 packing date.

Vulcan XH558 Rivets Packaging

I incorporated several rivets from the Vulcan Bomber inside a resin square paperweight, along with the artwork from the box.

Vulcan Bomber Rivets Paperweight

The second item that I made recently contains original swarf from a WWII Hawker Typhoon that is being rebuilt to flying standards. The Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group are rebuilding the Hawker Typhoon. They are currently in the process of rebuilding the rear fuselage based on the original metal from the plane which crashed in April 1945. As a result of this work a member a member of the charity sent to me some original swarf and rivets for encasing inside a pendant.

And here it is, the original swarf and rivets from the Hawker Typhoon preserved within a resin ad sterling silver pendant.

Hawker Typhoon Rivets & Swarf Pendant

Many thanks for reading about how I preserved this historical aircraft metalwork inside jewellery and paperweights.

Mick