St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-09-07
Casting a Bell,

foundry, on North street, are preparing
the mold in which to cast the bell LORD
Baltimore" the successor of tBlg sam.
the once loud voiced fire alarm ringer Oh
the city hall. Though the actual casting
will only take place about the first OF the
coming month force of men has been at
work some days arranging the details. It's
confidently expected that the new monster,
which is to weigh 1900 pounds, will ring
out the hours for Baltimore's half million
inhabitants and gladden. the hearts OF
thousands of visitors in time for the sep
TENDER exposition.
Its weight will exceed that of Big Sam,
and the note it will strike is intended 10
be a semi tone deeper-between B Hat and
A of the.yiolin. That of it's predecessor
was nearly B fiat, corresponding to b on
the organ. The foreman of the shop says
he is not sure that it's tone will be TINS,
but it will not be far off The tone Will
have the best quality that the BELLS weight
and quality will permit
Lord Baltimore will be 10 feet in diane
ter and 4 feet 10 inches in height though
it is not the largest bell by $500 pounds
that the McShanes have cast. The striker
of the old bell, which proved too heavy
for it, will be retained. 1t weighs 40
pounds, and by system of cogs is drawn
back and made to strike the bell by the
impetus given by the 1890 pounds OF
weights hung in the tower. The makers
expect the sound of Lord Baltimore to pen
citrate to much greater distance than ala
the bell which answered we'll enough
when the Monumental city did not have an
annex.
The mold into which the bell is to be
g IF a nntqT
"cage," which is the exact shape of the
bell, and an inner core, which fills in the
hollow around which the molten metal is
to be poured, Both of these are of iron.
The cage has numerous holes, which furn-
ish avenues of escape for the gases which
gather in the castings, and also furnish
adhesive points for the lining of loan.
Blunted projections on the interior serve
the same purpose. The loan is made of
molasses, organic matter and, clay. This
mixture gives it the tough quality neces-
sary to resist the searching and penetrating
power of the fused bell metal. To make
this loan perfectly smooth and of the re-
quired shape wooden sweep is revolved
on it's interior. A similar sweep but OF
different form, is attached to the top OF
the core aud moves around like spindle,
shaping the loan in the solid core. The
covering of the core is made the object OF
much attention. Next to the first layer OF
loan comes q wrapping of straw rope,
over which three or four more layers of
loan are placed Each coat requires
thirty-six hours to dry, and the upper
layer cannot be put on until the
lower is completely dried. Finally the
core and it's layers are placed on iron sup
ports, and Immediately over the core fits
the loan Lined cage, the whole having the
shape of the bell right side up. The core
is then securely clamped at the bottom OF
the cage.
The whole is then fred and the clay
baked for twenty four hours over char
coal fire. At the end of this time it is let
into pit, and while yet hot the molten
metal is poured into the mold from its top.
Here is located the gate for the admis-
sion of the metal, and near it went"
from which escapes the air from the
space that is to be occupied by the bell.
A loam- lined gutter to the gate is filled
with the molten mass, and then, at given
signal the casting goes on without inter
ruption of the flow of the metal until the
mold is full.
During the progress of the pouring gas
rushes out of the holes of the cage, and on
1gQ1l1On, DuTuS Will DedubIlul SiCOh&
| flame. 1t is carbon monoxide gas that is
generated, and the green is the volatilized
copper. The casters see to it that the gas
is ignited !; otherwise there may be bub-
bles in the casting.
| The metal required for Lord Baltimore
will be heated in 20 enormous crucibles
| and fed to the mold in ladies feet in dia-
| meter md feet deep. The exact compo-
sition of hell metal is kept secret by each
manufacturer, but is approximately 10
parts of copper to 81 parts of tin. The
| casting is done late in the afternoon, when
| there is little traffic on the street, and in g.
| pit where even the tread of feet cannot
| disturb it. Otherwise there might be trem-
| ors that would make the bell worthless.
About 20 men will be required to mold
| the bell, and when all is done it will be
left to cool down slowly for day or two.
| Big Sam was taken down from the
city hall on Tuesday. He will come from
the tower entire To break the bell up
4 into pieces in it's present location would
shake the whole building. When it
reaches the foundry it will be placed un-
| der trip hammer and smashed into smith
Greens. 1t is mistake to suppose that
| the chief business of American bell found
| ers is to recast old bells and chimes. In
| point of fact, in the present state of de-
| mand for new bells for church towers only
one in every forty bells cast is that of an
old and cracked affair.-BGttiaeoTe San.