X
BELLS AND
BELL-METAL
CASTINGS
CHAPTER X
BELLS AND BELL-METAL CASTINGS
The founders' secrets—Great bells of historic fame—The uses of bells—Old mortars.
The metal of which bells are made differs only from that used for other copper wares in its alloy. The ancients, however, made many mysteries about the constituents of the metal by which they were able to produce such beautiful notes and musical sounds. The modern bellfounder uses about 75 parts of copper and 25 parts of tin, varying it sometimes by a mixture of zinc and lead, and in that he differs little from the bellfounder of old, except that the older craftsman made a secret of his alloy and sometimes added a small quantity of other metals. The theory is that a large percentage of copper gives a deep tone, whereas the greater addition of zinc and tin gives a sharper ring.