Pittsburg ? Metal rods used in Operation Iraqi Freedom are being cast into miniature Liberty Bells by Pittsburg State University metal casting students.

Russ Rosmait, Kansas Technology Center engineering technology professor, said that he was contacted recently by First Sgt. Donald Splechter, 891st Engineering Battalion.

In civilian life, Splechter is employed at the Acme Foundry in Coffeyville, and had met Rosmait at a conference.

“He asked me if we could make four bells out of metal rods that were used over there in repair kits,” Rosmait said. “Ordinarily, they just discard the rods because it would be too expensive to ship them back. I thought it would be a good project for the students, and good to help out our military.”

Working on the project were students George Maska, Galesburg, Ill., and Eric Wittler, Wichita.

“Russ asked us about doing it, and we didn’t think twice,” Maska said.

Rosmait received 41 pounds of bronze rods. “Because it came from a war area, we had it tested at Sherry Laboratories, Tulsa, Okla., to be sure that it wasn’t contaminated in any way and would be safe,” he said.

As it turned out, the metal is safe and of very high quality. “It’s really good stuff,” Maska said.

Pittsburg State University students in Pittsburg are making Liberty Bell replicas from brass salvaged in Iraq by members of the 891st Engineer Battalion. Shown are, from left, an early casting, brass bars sent from Iraq and a model used for the castings.

The Liberty Bell design was chosen “because we thought it would really be appropriate,” Rosmait said.

Recently, students heated the metal to about 2,000 degrees, and started the process of casting it into bells. The molten bronze was poured into molds.

“Each mold holds about 100 pounds of a sand, clay and water mixture,” Maska said.

After a brief cooling period, the molds are taken apart, the sand mixture knocked out, and the bells revealed.

Bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, was the first metal alloy used by man. It probably originated around 3000 B.C. in Mesopotamia – the area that is now called Iraq.

He said that the bells will be placed with other 891st Engineering Battalion memorabilia at National Guard Armories.