Bells

[John Hart]

Today, I had a bunch of things to do that I didn't want to do, so it only left me with a couple hours in the shop. I wanted to make "Coffee Cup Bells", which is an idea I had where I could cut the handle off of a cool looking coffee cup and make a bell out of it. But since I didn't have time to find a cup, I tried my first experiment on two small Votive Candle cup things. I turned handles from Bahama Cherry and the dinger things out of Ebony. Used a small silicon grinder tip to drill a hole in the glass. They ding pretty good. But this is the first run...and I really did want to do coffee cups...I'll keep at it.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Jphn. I like that idea. They look great.
On the coffee cup thing though, how would you cover where you took the handle off?
Thinking of this though, there is a place somewhere around here in a mall where you pay to build your own coffee cups or just about anything out of clay.

Ernie

[Charlie Stein]

Hi John,
Boy that is perty nifty,nice work on handels too. Hey thought you would call by now.
Got a show the 17th of this mo.
Just Charlie

[John Hart]

Thanks guys.. yeah, I know the cut-off point is going to be a problem...I don't know if I can find some kind of clear glaze that doen't require re-firing. I suppose I can pay to have someone fire them though.




Hey thought you would call by now.
Got a show the 17th of this mo.
Just Charlie

Hi Charlie...I'm sorry...Spring break and schedules kept me from doing anything away from the house last week. I'm going to shoot for this week.

[Raymond Overman]

Great idea John. I like both of them. How do they sound and did you just glue the handle to the top?

[John Hart]

Great idea John. I like both of them. How do they sound and did you just glue the handle to the top?

Well, as far as sound goes, I'm a little disappointed. They ding but they don't have a resonating ring. I tried loosening the handle to see if the wood was dampening the ring, but that didn't make any difference, so I'm starting to think it's the fact that the dinger thinger is made out of ebony and maybe it needs to be something harder and heavier.

Tonight, I'm going to bore out the ebony pieces and add a Jade stone to the end and see what that does.

And as far as glue goes, right now, they are not glued, just screwed. Which I see a danger of cracking the glass if I don't glue and offer some better support at the Dinger Thinger interface. By the way...what is that dinger thinger called anyway?

[Blake McCully]

John,
I believe the actual nomenclature of that article is called a dinger thinger, although I'm sure there are some neandrethals out there who might call it a clapper.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

John,

I love the idea, it looks like a great one if you get it working!

[John Hart]

John,
I believe the actual nomenclature of that article is called a dinger thinger, although I'm sure there are some neandrethals out there who might call it a clapper.
Oh Good...Thanks Blake. I didn't want to sound stupid.:)

[John Hart]

John,

I love the idea, it looks like a great one if you get it working!

Thanks jeff...Well, I think I got it!
The pictures below reveal the secret. First off, I shortened the dingers and turned a small well in the ends, then honed out some holes in a Jade and a Tiger Eye bead(large enough to accomodate a linoleum nail) and expoxied the ensemble in place. Hah! I got ringing! They sounded really good. So then, to relieve the stress at the glass-to-dinger-to-handle interface, I epoxied the handle to the bell, then epoxied the dinger assembly into the handle, using a washer to protect the drilled hole in the glass.


The final picture is what happens when you test the bell and let it slip out of your hand on to concrete. It was a worthwhile test. So, in the future, don't throw your glass bell on to concrete.

It sure sounded great before I destroyed it!

[Rob Littleton]

I think "Clanger" is what my mum used to call the dinger thingy you are refering too. I just asked my wife and she said "ding donger".....bless her heart. Hey dude, you call it what you like, I think we know what you are talking about :-)

[Jeff Sudmeier]

John,

That is great that you got it sounding good! You could have a hot product on your hands! :) Now quit dropping them or put a laynard on them!

[Ron Ainge]

I wonder if you could use the glass that is used for wall sconces (I hope that is spelled right) to make the bels out of. They are very this so you would not need a clapper that was very heavy.

[John Hart]

They are very thin so you would not need a clapper that was very heavy.

I talked about this very thing with my wife last night, and it's the thinness that I fear. We have several of the sconces around the house and she could see that I had that look in my eye like maybe they'd suddenly come up missing or something. And she just looked at me and said, "no!! They are too thin!! Don't even think about it!"
Those are the kinds of discussions we have.:) But personally, I think you're right.

[Ron Ainge]

I think I may steal your idea this weekend and use an extra sconce that my wife has sitting around to see if it is useable. I to fear the thinness of the glass but nothing ventured nothing gained. They may turn out to be a demand item who knows.

[John Hart]

Ron, the more I check around the more I see bell collectors who are just looking for something unique. Well, as long as you don't hold to a particular pattern, every bell you make will be unique.

My wife said last night, "What about sugar bowls?" I think she's right. I'm going to find a cut crystal sugar bowl or something similar. There's gotta be stuff like that at second-hand stores or dollar stores somewhere.

[John Hart]

Well...whaddaya know...I ran into a piece of good luck last night. My brother-in-law works at a Quartz company where they take quarried quartz and machine it into parts for aircraft. This is high precision stuff. Anyway, I was at the quartz factory last night getting some hardwood and asked him, "How hard is it for you to make me a bell?" He grabbed a piece of quartz tubing and made a 2 1/2 inch diameter bell in about 5 minutes out of their scrap. This is a crystal clear, 2 1/2" diameter X 3" length dome (about the size and shape of a sugar bowl)

I took this little dome home and balanced it from the inside on a pen tip and struck it with a piece of wood. It rang for 10 seconds. With one strike! And we're talking a beautiful ring!

So tonight, I'm going to make a quartz crystal bell. He said he can make them any shape and size I want.

Every now and then, even a blind squirrel finds a nut!

[Blake McCully]

John,
I'd like to see that. Check your PM. I sent you one the other day. Don't know if it went through. It's about that trip to Berea.

PM me or email me back.

Later.

[John Hart]

John,
I'd like to see that. Check your PM. I sent you one the other day. Don't know if it went through. It's about that trip to Berea.

PM me or email me back.

Later.

Hi Blake...I sent you an email...I'll be sure to bring some bells! See you then.

[Mark Singer]

John,

That is a great project!!! Very creative and beautiful! Love this kind of thought provoking work...

[John Hart]

Thanks for the vote of encouragement Mark! I'll keep pluggin' away. And speaking of which, I took a piece of my pear tree and made a handle, then my wife surprised me with a crystal votive so the pictures below are of that.

In the third picture, I included the Quartz Crystal Dome that my brother-in-law made for me. I started on a handle for it but there was an explosion at a knot and..well...it's not there anymore. I'll do another tomorrow.

[Ernie Nyvall]

John, have you done the handle for the quartz yet? Will you use the same bit to make he hole, and where do you get a silicone gtinder bit?

Ernie

[John Hart]

John, have you done the handle for the quartz yet? Will you use the same bit to make he hole, and where do you get a silicone gtinder bit?

Ernie

Hi Ernie,

Well....I tried to make the handle for the quartz bell. I had a slight mishap on the lathe with a nasty knot so I'll have to try again. I might not get back to it for a couple days though. (I'm working on a butcher block that I've been neglecting)

As far as the silicon grinders, Dremel makes those. They are the blue grinders, about $1.50. The diamond tips and wheels will work too but they are more expensive.

The nice thing about the quartz is that it is a rock so it grinds like rock. It is very stable while grinding the glass really needs to be approached carefully.
So far, I've done bells with, and without drilling. In both cases, I use clear epoxy to make a strong join to the bell. I use the grinder to score up the surface and I get great adhesion. (I tried with all my strength to pull it apart)

By the way, the bells I've made so far have been given to my daughter's teachers. They are thrilled with them. (really thrilled):rolleyes: