Bell clapper?

[Bonnie Campbell]

How do y'all make the clappers for bells?

[John Hart]

I use a small jewelry chain, epoxied in the hole of a semi-precious stone bead that you can get at Michaels..cheap. You can get 10 or 15 Jade Beads for about $2.50. (They also have Tigers Eye, Opal, Mother-O-Pearl, and Turquoise). Then I turn a lil' itty bitty mounting thingy for the other end of the chain and epoxy that in place inside the bell.

[Paul Engle]

Wal m has em also in wood, like 40 various sizes 1.95. On my bigger bells I make my own, good practice with the skew. drill the hole first then round , sand and finish, then part em off one at a time.

[Dean Thomas]

Some folks like to do the clapper in the bell to match something else on the bell. If you're doing a "school teacher's bell" with an ebony or blackwood handle, a blackwood clapper could be cool. Others like to contrast it, or to put something that's more in line with the "wow" factor.

One guy's opinion was that faceted beads/jewels should be avoided so that they don't ding up the finish. I'll bet he had rugrats that LOVED to make the bell go clacketyclack.;)

[John Hart]

Hey Bonnie...I posted some bells an eon ago at http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=18758

There's some close-ups in post #10 of a couple dingle-ling things in there....if that's any help.

[Bonnie Campbell]

Thanks for everyones help! :) I'll keep your clapper suggestions in mind so I can pick up needed materials for my next one.

I went ahead and turned a lil bitty clapper, drilled a hole through the top and wired it to a eye hook. Seems to work okay. But think I'll go with chain attachment to the eye hook on my next one.

Was so much fun turning a 1/2" clapper from a 9" piece of wood :rolleyes: ....... lol