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The making of bells begins with the making of a stone core, shaped into form with the help of a profile pattern, the sjabloon. On the surface, a layer of mortar made of sand and cement is applied, producing the so-called "false bell". A layer of wax, on which the letters and other symbols of commemoration will be inscribed, is then applied to the surface of the "false bell". Then several layers of very fine clay will be applied, to form the mantle. |
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The article ‘MOULDING AND CASTING OF A BELL IN THE PREVIOUS BELLFOUNDRY’ can be found on The National Carillon Museum website, and gives a clear view of the bell casting process. This presentation contains 20 slides. There you will see historic images from our bell foundry.
The tuning of a bell
After polishing, the bell is then tuned.
Principally the bell will be tuned to five partials. For example, with a C2 bell
the tones C1 (hum-tone), C2 Prime, C3 Nominal, Es2 (tierce) and G2 (quint) are
tuned individually. The tuning is done by carefully removing the right amount of
bronze for each tone from the inside of the bell. This needs to be done at
different levels inside the bell to assure that all tones of the bell are very
accurate. It is extremely necessary for this precise tuning otherwise ringing
the bells together will not be in harmony.
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Tuning of a bell of 4250 kg |
The hall of bells
