casting pit bell foundry Bellfounding bells foundry church clock craft bellmaker bellfounder furnace cast
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in Britain, then subsequently spread throughout Western Europe, North America, Japan, and eventually the world. Bellfounding is the casting of bells in a foundry for use in churches, clocks, and public buildings. A practitioner of the craft is called a bellmaker or bellfounder. The process in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. In early times, when a town produced a bell it was a momentous occasion in which the whole community would participate. Archaeological excavations of churchyards in Britain have revealed furnaces, which suggests that bells were often cast on site in pits dug in the building grounds. In some instances bells were cast directly in the church. Before the nineteenth century, bellfounders tended to be itinerant, traveling from church to church to cast bells on site. It wasn't until the creation of railroads, that more centralized foundries were established. There are however examples of foundries producing bells prior to this, such as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Bells intending to be rung are usually made by casting bell metal (a high-copper bronze alloy) of a size appropriate for the pitch the bell is intended to produce. Fine tuning of metal bells is achieved on a lathe where a precise amount of material is removed from the inside of the bell in order to produce a true tone with correct harmonics. Bells are used often to play a chime sequence and so must be well tuned in order to produce a correct scale of musical notes.
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