[Bell Historians] Re: Canon retaining headstocks

[Richard Offen]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, David Bryant <david at b...> 
wrote:
> > These pot stocks are fitted to the fourth and fifth bells at 
Great 
> > Ness, Shropshire, where I used to ring (G & J, 1932): the bells 
are 
> > pigs to get up right unless you acquire the knack of checking 
hard at 
> > just the right moment; once up, the clappers are so sluggish you 
can 
> > almost hear them groaning at the thought of the trip across the 
bell!
> 
> Several of the bells at St Giles Norwich have pot stocks - I 
believe they are intending to replace that on the 7th as it makes the 
bell so slow-striking and difficult to get up right.
> 
> I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong here, but it seems 
to me that the problem with a lot of bells with canon retaining 
stocks is that when designing the clapper dynamics little or no 
allowance has been made for the counterbalancing effect of the canon 
retaining headstock. The problem is usually that the bell strikes too 
slowly - i.e. is 'sluggish'.
> 
> David

I think you'll find that it's more a case of being physically 
impossible with these designs to get the clapper dynamics right, not 
that they haven't been taken into account. Which is why the firms 
who are concerned about the standard of their work have designed 
better products!

R