GAWDA Annual Conference | Lincoln Memorial Custom Piece

GAWDA Annual Convention 2019 held in Washington, D.C.

We have been commissioned by GAWDA to make a pewter figure for their Annual Convention which is being held in D.C. this year. They chose the Abraham Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial to replicate and we were thrilled at the idea! After working with our artist to create a mold we got to work casting. The little Lincoln’s are highly detailed and required a great amount of precision and cleaning up, but we are very happy with the finished product.

GAWDA was originally founded in 1945 as the National Welding Supply Association (NWSA). The association was formed to help the industry’s supply chain and to encourage the value of distribution. At the start of NWSA, the welding supply industry depended largely on the distribution of industrial gases. Many members began to incorporate medical gases into their product lines and expanded the gases part of their business. Thus why in 2002, NWSA changed its name to GAWDA or Gases and Welding Distributors Association, to more aptly express the changing industry and membership.

GAWDA currently serves over 500 gases and welding supply distributors, manufacturers, independent manufacturers’ representatives and individual members, and is the major trade association representing the industrial gases and welding supply industry. They are proud to lead the industry in providing education, industry information, and networking opportunities through its extensive website, periodical publications, monthly teleconferences, its Annual Conference, Spring Management Conference, and Regional Meetings.

The real Abraham Lincoln statue was designed by architect Henry Bacon and was unveiled in 1922. It is located on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington monument. Above the statue reads "IN THIS TEMPLE, AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE, FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION, THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ENSHRINED FOREVER." It is made of 170 tons of white Georgia marble, standing 19 feet tall. Quite oppositely, our Abe is a mere 2.25 inches weighing in at 3.8 ounces of fine pewter.

Our custom ornament process starts with an idea, a logo, or a picture. With the design in hand our artists get to work creating a 3-D model that will become our mold for hand-casting the pewter ornament. Once the ornament design is completed and the resin mold is made, we begin casting the pewter pieces in our lead-free pewter.  Each piece is then antiqued, buffed, and finished by hand. Feel free to give our customer service team a call at 866.282.7384 to discuss your ideas or to get more information on the whole process.