[Bell Historians] Vickers steel bells in America

[Carl S Zimmerman]

There is one Naylor Vickers steel bell in the St.Louis area, but it 
is hung dead on a wooden beam, with an external drop hammer. It's 
moderately large, but I don't have an estimate of its size. 
Fortunately, the maker's inscription is in the shoulder band and not 
around the sound bow. I've not been able to inspect this bell, 
because a sheet of plywood has been nailed over the tower door for 
many years; the date is not visible to binoculars.

There is a small Naylor Vickers bell in a collection at the Red-X 
General Store in Riverside, Mo. (see 
http://www.gcna.org/data/MORIVERSpix.HTM). The complete inscription 
around the bottom of the waist reads "Naylor, Vickers & Co. 
(E.Riepe's Patent), Sheffield, England, 1860", with "Naylor, Vickers 
& Co." being repeated on the yoke. It is very clear from the 
enlarged photo (at 
http://www.gcna.org/data/images/MORIVERS-58339_25-hi.jpg) that NV 
considered the possibility of swinging this bell, and may even have 
supplied a wheel with it originally, attached to the circular hub at 
the left end of the yoke. If so, that wheel has long since 
disappeared, and the bell is swung by a lever which is effectively an 
extension of the mounting bolt through the yoke and tang. This 
peculiar method is not unique to this bell--I have seen it on at 
least two other small bells of different origin but possibly similar 
age. (Unfortunately I don't have photos of them online.)

I'm copying this message to a few other people who might have 
knowledge of Naylor Vickers bells in the USA.

_____
At 15:33 +0000 on 2002/09/29, Alan J.Birney wrote:

>Does anyone know of any steel bells by Vickers supplied to customers
>in the U.S.A that were hung with either steel wheels or traditional
>wheels?
_____

-- 
=Carl Scott Zimmerman= Co-Webmaster: http://www.gcna.org/
Voicemail: +1-314-361-5194 (home) mailto:csz_stl at s...
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA - 19th c. home of up to 33 bell foundries