Wichita eagle., 1889-06-22
THE 1INKLING BELLS.
THE IMPORTANT DETAILS IN THEIR
CONSTRUCTION.
How the Metal L. Prepared and Poured.
To Polish Up the Bell for the Big Front
Door-Death Of the Old Time Cow Ben
Being TolIed.

To Polish Up the Bell for the Big From
Door-Death of the Old Time Cow Eel
Being ToIIed.
The use of small bells for so many differ
emit purposes has caused great increase il
the number Of establishments devoted exclu
sively to their manufacture. In these facto
ries are employed hundreds of skilled work
| men, with complete and modernized ma
chinery. Thousands Of dollars are annually
expended in experimenting and otherwis
advancing the art Of improving the tone To-
| the use and pleasure of mankind
The bell OF today is great improvement
upon that made centuries ago. Even then
crude as was its manufacture, it served vel
its purposes, for in its past history it is found
playing an important part in religious wor
ship, in social joys and sorrows and historic
| events.
The development has been slow; in form
there has been but little change, yet in manu-
facture, tone and appliances great improve
ment has been made.
| Old fashioned bells were made by hand
and were fashioned out of brass, pewter, sill
yer or gold. The art of casting was ther
unknown. In these latter days the mode o.
|
are no longer wrought out by hand, but ar
cast in molds.
| NOT SO SIMPLE AS IT LOOKS
In times past it took one man several days
and perhaps weeks, to make bell. With
the facilities of the present hundreds arr
made in one day, saving much time ano
| labor.
To meet the increasing demand for small
bells in various forms, large plants have beer
built, which give employment to hundreds Of
men and women 1t Is said that the greater
| portion of these hands have been born into
| and brought up in the business, very help
| full circumstance, as both the eye and cal
must be trained and attuned to readily detect
any flaw and to note the correct tone.
As simple as bell appears to one who care
lessly looks at it, much care must be exercised
in it's construction. 4 careless workman i:
not allowed in bell factory. The success Of
the bell, from the reverberating furnace tc
the polishing room, depends upon the careful
attention given it by each Of the operators
through whose hands it passes.
Every bell manufacturer, whether he casts
large or small bells, has his own pet formula
for their composition. In making the metal
commonly called bell metal, nearly every
factory has its reverberatory furnace, its
smelling furnaces and its mol6ing rooms The
usual mode Of making small bells is by casting
lot of them at time in iron boxes called
TASKS.
In reverberatory furnace is thrown waste
brass gathered from brass manufacturers, all
kindsof copper, spelter brass, tin composition,
bits Of iron, chips of composition from loco
motives, engines, and washings from the
skimnings Of brass foundries, which are all
melted together. This mixture produces what
is called ingot metal. This again is melted
and filtered while hot through charcoal in a
cupola furnace. 1t is then put into pot
lined with blue clay and placed over hot
fire, which ref1nes the metal, burning out en-
tirely all the baser portions and leaving little
but copper.
After this the molten mass is taken from
the fire, and given percentage of tin added,
making, 1t Is claimed, the best known bell
matter Of copper and tin ever discovered.
The patterns from which the bells of va
rious shapes sizes and thickness are made are
of wood, and duplicate patterns are after
wards made of brass or soft metal The du-
plicates are sent to the molder, who makes
his mold in two TASKS. These contain Al
Oduy cdlAO, WHICH uSlS previously OStu
''soured" by the addition of vinegar, mo-
lasses and water. From four to sixty bells,
according to size, can be cast in each flask.
When the TASKS are all ready, and have been
placed on the bench, red hot metal Is poured
into the holes at the top from q large ladle
which had previously been resting on the
charcoal fire. This having been done, the
TASKS and contents are allowed to cool.
BELLS OF MANY KINDS
The bells ON coming from the mold are
rough and unsightly. There are two ways Of
getting rid of this roughness and producing q
polished surface. The first is applied to the
coarser grades, which include common sleigh
bells which have been made Of the poorest
materials. The usual mode Is to throw about
three bushels Of these bells, Of all sizes, into a
slowly revolving wooden cylinder containing
good supply of scrap leather. Here they
revolve one against the other for eight hours
At the end Of that time they are taken out,
smooth and bright, with high polish The
second method is to polish the finer grades
which includes gongs and hand bells that are
made out of me- metal exclusively, upon q
lathe that makes 600 revolutions per minute
After they have all received their polish
they are taken to the finishing room, where
the tongues, handles, springs, elappers, fast
enings and other contrivances are all put in
place by especially adapted machinery. In
some manufactures the bells are plated with
gold, nickel or silver in a separate room by
the usual process.
Bells are also made of steal and glass.
Those made of steel do not compare favor
ably in tone with those made Of bell metal
Yet great many are made Of cast steel in
the form Of gongs, and are bronzed over and
used for Office bells Those made Of glass are
used for special purposes. They give an ex-
treufely pure sound, but are so brittle that
they cannot long stand the constant use Of
the hammer.
The tone of the bells used for musical pur-
poses depends upon the size and shape and Is
adjusted by the xylophone tuning fork or
upon a lathe. Small thick bells are high
toned, while the large thin bells are low
toned; but the real and actual tone Of the
bell depends upon size and thickness, as we'll
es upon the metal used.
But very few sheep and COW bells are now
manufactured. The old fashioned four-inch-
in-diameter globe sleigh bell has gone entire
" out Of use, and In its stead are used those
from .hree-quarters Of an inch TO two inches
In diameter.
The gong bell seems to be taking the place
Of the old long necked tongue bell Being
almost fat, with spring hammers, It can be
stowed away with safety in almost any place
Hence its Use for call and door bells, for fire
and clock alarms, for musical and sleigh
chimes toys, etc The smallest gong made
Sor a.,s,,al ,rSa il thra<,rerfer-s Of an inch in