For whom the bell tolls... uh.. turns!

[Scott Hackler]

Well that would be my Grandma as a "get well" present. I have about 3 1/2 hours in this dude. I really didn't want to give it away but I love her loads and she was so excited that she walked across the street to show it to the neighbors immediately, so I guess I did good (in her eyes, at least!) BTW, she's a young 83!

Sorry about the lack of photography skills or light box!

http://members.cox.net/cabletech/bell1.jpg

http://members.cox.net/cabletech/bell2.jpg

And one for a size reference!

http://members.cox.net/cabletech/bell3.jpg

[Jon Lanier]

That is awesome. Did you do the designs freehand on the bell?

[Scott Hackler]

Yeah, freehand. Just me, my dremel and my carpal tunnel. :)

[Paul Douglass]

Way too cool. Can't let my wife see that!

[Greg Ketell]

That is simply stellar!!

[Donny Lawson]

I think that is great.I will have to save this and try one like it sometime. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Donny

[John Keeton]

Scott, great idea and great job of pulling it off! I bet your Grandma was thrilled, and that neighbor won't be the only one that she shows off to. Very nice gesture. Probably brings back a lot of memories for her, too. I grew up right at the tail end of the school bell thing - just recall a couple of teachers with them. Ahhhhhh, the good ol' days!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Scott - very nice design! Really like the wood combination! Glad to her your Grandma was thrilled! Nothing better than making family happy!

[David E Keller]

Very nice, Scott. Your grandmother has every right to be thrilled.

[Robert Parrish]

Fantastic Scott!

[Baxter Smith]

Very very nice!

[Roland Martin]

Very nice job. A lot of work went into that baby!

[Scott Lux]

Great job on that. I'm way too lazy to try to copy it.

Tell Grandma that only those with a pure heart can hear it ring. Then say, "I have no idea what it sounds like."

[Mike Minto]

Scott, that's a really nice bell; I'll bet it did hurt to give that away!

[Bill Bolen]

Beautiful piece! If I were granny I would be sure to show it off too. Great gift. .Bill.

[Rob Cunningham]

Really nice Scott, that's a lot of tedious Dremel work. I can see why she was thrilled. I bet if she saw the last picture she would tell you to put a coaster under that drink :).

[Richard Madison]

That's a beautiful piece Scott. Actually your first two pictures are pretty good. All you need is a seamless white background in the same place, same lighting, etc. Your white balance and exposure look good.

[Scott Hackler]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Getting over that mental hump that says, "dont cut holes in this project", is a hard thing to do. But after you try it, it can really add to certain things, IMO. I'm pretty pleased with it and made some good discoveries that might help the potential wood piercer.

1) fresh new bit in the dremel is awesome, old dull one is not
2) turn the basic shape and hollow out the majority without going final thickness
Then, define your piercing area with either a pencil or (like this project) burned in with a wire
3) make at a couple holes, with the dremel, in the area that will be pierced
4) use these holes as thinkness guides for the final thinning and hollowing.
5) trying to hollow endgrain is a futile thing to attempt and is not recommended! :) (this one was NOT endgrain, but a previous one was attempted and abandoned!)

Oh and finally, thanks a lot to the likes of Wally Dickerman for putting this whole piercing idea in my head. So much for quick and fast projects!:D

[Frank Van Atta]

Very impressive piece.

[Toney Robertson]

Scott,

That is a very nice bell.

I won't show the wife since she collects bells and would probably want one.

Cool project and I am sure Grandma was thrilled.

Toney

[Paul Douglass]

How long did it take you to pierce that? Looks like hours of work to me. And, what And of bit? Small straight? Just blows my feeble mind!

[Scott Hackler]

I think I had about 2 hours in the actual piercing step (spread out over several sessions). I had to take several breaks to rest the nerves and hand! The bit is a ball type metal bit about an 1/8" diameter.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Very nice Scott. No wonder your grandmother was excited. Hey Scott just whip another one out. Should take you half the time now that you have it down.:D:rolleyes:

[Scott Hackler]

I have already started roughing out the bell part of the next one! :)

[Matt Ranum]

How do you decide a pattern for the piercing, and have it look even through the whole bell?

[Scott Hackler]

Believe it or not, its completely random. I dont follow a specific pattern per se. I just try to keep the length of the holes roughly the same and try to not repeat the same direction next to each other. Seems to work out ok until you get close to meeting the "wrap around point", then I try to plan out the last little bit so it will appear even when it touches the starting point.

[Matt Ranum]

Thanks for the info!