Warner's, Bowell, and harmonic tuning.

[nigelsdtaylor]

David wrote:
>
I sometimes wonder if the likes of Bowell and Warners struggled with 
harmonic tuning for so long just because they were trying to follow 
Canon Simpson's advice, without realising that Simpson was a bit wide 
of the mark as regards where to tune to control which partials.<

Apart from a few "accidents", there is nothing to suggest that 
Warner's had any real idea on how to correct bells in-tune. Apart 
from not realising how to control the 2nd partial, they often failed 
to achieve octave hums, and could not even align the nominals! Warner 
bells are minor 3rd beasts; sometimes a little sharp, and sometimes 
flat.
Bowell never attempted "harmonic tuning" because he had not the first 
idea on how to design the bells, in order to achieve a correctable 
profile. He did not possess a proper set of calibrated forks either. 
He did sometimes machine bells from shoulder to soundbow, but this 
included old bells with flat 5ths and 2nd partials!
Nigel Taylor