[Bell Historians] McShane of Baltimore

[Carl S Zimmerman]

The "peculiar" aspect is not the roller bearings but the rotary yoke.  This was a feature that allowed the bell to be rotated on its axis so as to present a fresh striking surface to the clapper, thus improving the sound of the bell after it (and the clapper) had been worn flat by heavy use.  In all cases that rotation could be accomplished in the belfry by simply loosening the mounting bolt(s) of the bell.
American bellfounders patented several different mechanisms for accomplishing this, and each one implicitly touted their own method as being superior to all the rest.  The earliest version was canon-retaining, but later versions worked with flat-topped bells or with conical-neck bells (of which McShane is an example).
I've just added to my work list, "Make a photo page illustrating the different types of rotary yokes."

Carl Scott Zimmerman, Campanologist 
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA -
 - 19th c. home of at least 37 bell founders or resellers 
Tel. +1-314-821-8437 
Webmaster for www.TowerBells.org
 * Avocation: tower bells
 * Recreation: handbells
 * Mission: church bellsWebmaster for www.TSCChapter134.orgTreasurer, World Carillon Federation
 

    On Friday, February 16, 2024 at 04:52:34 AM CST, John Harrison <john at jaharrison.me.uk> wrote:  
 
 In article <E1ravMW-00BAf1-3j at mailhub-hex-d.mythic-beasts.com>,
  Dickon Benoñski-Love <dickon at lovesguide.com> wrote:
> It is provided with a rotary yoke on roller bearings, a mode of
> carriage peculiar to American bells, rendering their ringing remarkably
> easy

That sounds like a description of what we would call standard for a full
circle bell - hardly peculiar to American bells - though at that date
plain bearings would have been more likely.  Or am I missing something?

-- 
John Harrison
Website http://jaharrison.me.uk
Using 4té and ARMX6, both running RISC OS

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