Hell’s Bells.

[Dennis]

This project was going to be a doddle: to make a bell that rings. As I had a suitably large brass tube in my stash, I thought that this would provide a cunning shortcut.

Afraid of cracking it, the tube was first annealed. Then the base was spread with large doming punches aided by a hydraulic press. To restore the hardness, the surface was hammered, leaving a texture

The top was cut into eight triangles and closed by forcing them down into a doming block, again using the hydraulic press. By cutting through with a fine saw blade several times, they came together so well that no light could shine through.

Unfortunately, a moment’s inattention caused the whole thing to collapse into the interesting hat shape in my pictures. The second attempt produced a better bell curve with no annealing, so I added the wooden handle and accessories.

The ring is musical, but not that loud. I think it is too thick for its size.
O/s diameter of brass tube25.50mm, Wall Thickness 2.00mm. Dennis.

[Animalnutty]

Oh wow, that is stunning! Even your 'mistake' is adorable Wish my mistakes looked that appealing

[china]

Well that came pretty good I must say, now you need to find something for the little bowler hat

[Ankolosova]

Dennis I am speachless ! WOW//..

[Petal]

That's absolutely gorgeous Dennis, especially the precision with which its been made. I'd be interested to hear which hydraulic press you used for that... ?

[CJ57]

I’m rather fond of the hat Dennis but as always your attention to detail won the day.
Like Jules I’m interested in the press as all I’ve seen recently are huge and I’m not sure I’d have room