For the preservation of the historic Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew in Brooklyn, NY Skyline Restoration used tools made by Trow & Holden Co. (THC) to perform the in-situ retooling of replacement brownstone units to ensure consistency and quality throughout the project.
IMAGES: TROW & HOLDEN CO.
THC is an ISO-certified American maker of quality tools for working stone, operating in Barre, Vermont, since 1890. Their tools were used to create the Lincoln Memorial, among many other notable monuments, sculptures, and buildings.
From forging and forming to heat treatment and finish grinding, all their tools are made on the same site in Barre, Vermont where they have been manufactured for more than 130 years. Their production employees complete a four-year apprenticeship in toolmaking — and as they like to say, their tools are “made by artisans for artisans.”
They manufacture a broad range of carbide-tipped hand tools and hammers used by stonemasons throughout the world as well as a complete line of very precise pneumatic tools and chisels for stone carving. THC was among the very first to successfully use tungsten carbide tips on hand tool and hammer blades. Since then, they have continued to be at the forefront in carbide material development.
All their hand tools, pneumatic tools and hammers are individually serial numbered allowing THC to record and keep track of the physical specifications, purchase information and performance of every tool they make. No. 1 still exists. It belongs to Barre sculptor Giuliano Cecchinelli.
Stone restoration jobs using THC’s pneumatic tools include the Four Freedoms Monument on Roosevelt Island, NY; the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Upper Manhattan; the National Cathedral in Washington, DC; the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona; Falling Water in Mill Run, PA, and many other important sites.
THC's tools are guaranteed against material and manufacturing defects and they are “Made to last since 1890 in Barre, Vermont, USA”.