Dumb question, but there's a purpose for it...

[Quiet_Cool]

Okay, anyone happen to know what old bells were made from? I'm talking larger style church bells? I can hear the sound of them ringing, but can't think of what metal makes that sound when struck.

Q_C

 

[BlackShanglan]

I think the alloy varies from bell to bell?

 

[Guest]

Yeah, an alloy of some kind, probably.

But, really, really old ones: iron?

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Yeah, an alloy of some kind, probably.

But, really, really old ones: iron?

I wouldn't say really, really old, but say... Maybe a hundred years old. I don't really know if there would b e a bell above a church in a small town in the earl nineteen-hundreds, but there is one, and the wind isn't blowing it because it wouldn't be strong enough to blow something that heavy, made of...?

thanx for your replies.

Q_C

 

[cantdog]

Different metals for different purposes. Brass was the standard for alarms and churches 100 years ago, but iron bells were made to toll a death, some places.

 

[carsonshepherd]

brass bells.

Or was that brass balls?

No, that was a brass monkey.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Different metals for different purposes. Brass was the standard for alarms and churches 100 years ago, but iron bells were made to toll a death, some places.

Cool.

I was thinking brass, but didn't want to put it down unless I was sure. Thanx cant, and everyone else.

Q_C

 

[Quiet_Cool]

brass bells.

Or was that brass balls?

No, that was a brass monkey.

Was it a funkey monkey?

Q_C

 

[carsonshepherd]

Was it a funkey monkey?

Q_C

Of course it was.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Bastard.

Now I have that song in my head.

 

[oggbashan]

Old bells were made of bell metal. Stupid answer to a stupid question?

No really. It is a special alloy made just for bells and the quantities of the constituent parts give a different timbre to the bell.

I think the Whitechapel Bell Foundry is the only organisation in the UK that still recasts old bells from the original metal. They made the Liberty Bell.

Edited to add:

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Og

PS. Edited again. Bell Metal is 22% tin and 78% copper although older bellfounders were not that accurate. Their rule of thumb was 1 part tin to 4 parts copper.

PPS. I have a French Revolutionary coin cast from the bells of the churches of Paris. French bells were made to a different formula.

 

[carsonshepherd]

I think the Whitechapel Bell Foundry is the only organisation in the UK that still recasts old bells from the original metal. They made the Liberty Bell.


Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Og

Which cracked

 

[oggbashan]

Which cracked

Because the colonists didn't read the handbook sent out with all bells made by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry or thought they knew better than the makers.

Why is it that everyone reads the instruction manual LAST?

Og

 

[carsonshepherd]

Because the colonists didn't read the handbook sent out with all bells made by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry or thought they knew better than the makers.



Og

The note reading : "For decorative purposes only. Do not ring"?

 

[oggbashan]

The note reading : "For decorative purposes only. Do not ring"?

No. The instructions on how to handle it, how to suspend it, and what to use as a striker.

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry did offer a century or so ago to recast it so that it would be whole and capable of being rung. The former colonists declined the offer.

Og

 

[Weird Harold]

Old bells were made of bell metal. Stupid answer to a stupid question?

No really. It is a special alloy made just for bells and the quantities of the constituent parts give a different timbre to the bell.

PS. Edited again. Bell Metal is 22% tin and 78% copper although older bellfounders were not that accurate. Their rule of thumb was 1 part tin to 4 parts copper.

So Bell Metal is a variant of Bronze?

I knew that early cannon were cast in bronze by bellfounders because they were the artisans who knew how to cast bronze on the scale required for cannon. I didn't realize that there was a "secret formula" involved as well.

 

[neonlyte]

So Bell Metal is a variant of Bronze?

I knew that early cannon were cast in bronze by bellfounders because they were the artisans who knew how to cast bronze on the scale required for cannon. I didn't realize that there was a "secret formula" involved as well.

Yes - an expert can analyse the metal composition and tell you where a bell or cannon were most likely cast, each foundry had it's own 'recipe', there were not that many capable of casting on a large scale. Whitechapel Bell Foundary casts new and recasts old cracked bells but survives today by casting bronze sculpture for artists.

 

[Guest]

French bells were made to a different formula.

Ha ha, of course they were. All above info very interesting. I love bells and bell towers. I miss them from Venice and Yorkshire now.

Perdita

 

[snooper]

I wouldn't say really, really old, but say... Maybe a hundred years old. I don't really know if there would b e a bell above a church in a small town in the earl nineteen-hundreds, ...

Many churches had them, and for several centuries before that.

See http://www.search.staffspasttrack.o...=&direction=&pointer=927&text=0&resource=2992 for one cast in 1409.