[Bell Historians] Bronze bells for clocking?

[David Bryant]

Matthew wrote:

> The skin on a bell casting is due to oxidisation and probably contains small amounts of slag. Myself and 
> Brian White (Whites of Appleton) are of the opinion that the casting skin gives good resonance. If you look > at the "Old Masters" such as the rings at Chewton Mendip & Ditcheat, the tuning marks are minimal, probably 
> just three narrow bands of machining. Both rings have superb resonance. The modern trend is to cast the 
> bells thicker and machine more metal out, during the tuning process.

It isn't the case that all Taylor bells of that period have few tuning
marks, however. The York Minster bells (1925) have all been heavily
tuned; many of them bear tuning marks throughout their insides. The
tenor was cast at 72-2-0, and after tuning is 59-1-23.

David