St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-01-11
THE CAST OF 4 BELL.


Have Boea Ahlo - Master.
The operation Of casting . bell is >
most interesting one. The flask
wherein and whereon Che mold IL made
consists Of two parts. constructed Of
boiler iron, of q general bell form, and
plentifully perforated with holes for
escaping gas while casting, one being
70 much less in size than its fellow as
to give space for the loan forming the
mold between the two. The pattern"
- the term Is generally used, il pro-
vided. The two parts OF the mold arc
',swept" BY formers" accurately I'm.
ished from thin iron 70 the form in
tended for the inner and oq1er surfaces
Of the bell. These 'sfdEakus" are
mounted and rotated over the 4pplied,
loan. Five courss9 Of loan and clay
arc successively applied, .'swept" and
baked, to complete each mold. Before
this work IL done, however. the inner
aask II wound near tbe top with : rope
made Of hay. Al the shrinkage Is very
great q the castings cool. difficulty
Would be met with in getting the flask
and loan out Of the nearly parallel in
side top; this ''pinch" u 0bviated by
using this destructable base, which
permits the collapse Of the loam aftee
the heat of the metal has consumed
the hay.
The five coarses laid ON the tasks
are. Loan, . mixture OF loan, dre
clay and manure; two successive coat
ings Of powdered fire clay, and. lastly.
. thin coating Of brick and 6re clay
combined with foundry facing. Each OF
these coatings is baked In an oven be-
fore the succeeding one is applied. The
coatings are 'sswept" by the formers.
a. applied, both in the inner and outer
TASKS, by careful adjustments - to
thickness Of materials. 20 that when
the exterior mold is placed over the In
terror, . space corresponding 70 the In
tended thickness and shape Of the bell
shall exist Inscriptions of embellish-
ments to be made upon the bell arO
provided for with the last coating b.
means Of . ''knurl" or wheel. having
the desired motto raised upon its peri
phery, the wheel being carefully rolled
around the soft surface and leaving its
imprint In the clay. Other designs are
impressed from dies Of the required
ornament, and the usual beading
u accomplished by notches In tho edge
Of the sweep
The two parts Of the dask being
p,.eed together are firmly held in posi-
ton by many clampA the tendency OF
hot bell metal to squeexe through and
force = separation Of TASKS being very
great AZ the mold nears completion
5 Dire is started in . nearby reverberar
tory furnace. in which il placed the
desired charge Of copper. and when
the copper IL melted the tin is added in
il proportion. The melted metal be-
imp ready, the furnace is tapped, the
bright stream caught in huge ladle
swung over the mold by crane and
uoured into the open mouth Of the
mold until il IL Alled- After cooling
and removal froa the mold the bell ID
usually polished with sand and water
IN special revolving grinding maehines.
Tho tougue and clapper. the yoke and
wheal are now attaehed and the whole
suspended 10 IT. frame In making Z
chine The bells are, aftse eompletion,
Temporarily sst mp and regularly
tsssed ~ shillod boll ringers. from
the permaneot chiming stand Of The
1Daadry.
a bell Of anch Proportions :: -
lnr3o 90 pEopoasd toe Alwankoe'a
cotY hall has - - 0otd4 and enne =
|a ~ -2lnwealsee Vl.eeaelA