[Bell Historians] bell shapes

[David Bryant]

> For these reasons, bellfounders who produce tuned change-ringing
> bells, as the two surviving English founders and Eijsbouts do, must
> have in hand a much wider range of profiles than those who only
> produce single bells, small peals, or chimes and carillons.

I think it's important to stress the point (which I'm sure Carl is aware
of), that the trebles of a ring, although heavier than a bell of the same
note cast as part of a chime or further round in a lighter ring, can still
be of the same basic external profile as any bell of its diameter by that
founder - it will be phyically bigger than a bell of the same note intended
for another purpose, but will be thicker than a 'standard' bell of its
diameter would be in order to make the note sharper. Of course, as I've
already mentioned, there are higher-number rings where the trebles have
long-waisted profiles, probably both for mechanical and weight reasons
(Redcliffe is an example which springs to mind).

Of course, thick trebles often need extra-heavy clappers to bring out their
tone. The York Minster trebles have clapper balls of a similar diameter to
the 10th!

David