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.