Carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders is no easy task. Carrying the world on your shoulders while you are rusting is even harder! That was the case with “Atlas Man.”

The original sculpture, which was painted with a water-based paint, was created for a competition. After being awarded second place, Atlas Man was moved to its new home at the end of the driveway of Phil's business. The hard Ontario winters quickly began to take their toll on the statue after a short time due to the inferior protection offered by the first paint system. 

After six years, Phil determined Atlas Man needed better protection. After replacing rusting parts, the statue was sandblasted and powder coated. Happy with the results, “Atlas Man” was returned to service. Fast forward to 2019. The second paint coating system is failing and Atlas Man is rusting…again! Feeling frustrated by the two failures of paint systems, the debate was to either try again or scrap the piece. Phil was determined not to give up on protecting his prized work of art. That is when he decided to have the piece galvanized.

Taking the statue back into the shop, repairs began. Lots of turns and bends and the complexity of the piece made the proper fabrication for galvanizing more challenging than that required for paint. Working together with the galvanizer, modifications were made to ensure the best fabrication methods were used to attain the best possible finish. 

All rusted material was replaced which required re-fabricating parts of the body. Due to extensive corrosion, the base also had to be replaced. After all fabrication modifications were complete, Atlas Man headed to the sandblaster to remove all the old powder coating. Once all preparation was completed and reviewed, the piece headed to the galvanizer.

Knowing the piece would be viewed by the passing public and visitors to the business, extra care was taken by the galvanizer to ensure the piece would not only last for decades to come without any need for maintenance, it would also be aesthetically pleasing to everyone viewing it’s matte gray finish. Atlas Man now stands at the entrance to their shop property in Eden, Ontario, welcoming customers and other visitors to their business while carrying the weight of the world on his Galvanized shoulders.