How Bells are Made

The Paccard Fonderie de Cloches still uses many hand casting methods. Each bell is individually cast using the lost wax process. Because each mold is different, inscriptions can be cast permanently on any bell over 90 lbs. After the casting is complete, the molds are broken.

    Bells are tuned as part of the casting and finished process at the foundry. Graphs, which chart points of sonority, are the blue prints or the foundry’s bell molds. Six main steps are performed in making a bell: designing it, making the templates or patterns, building the mold, casting the bell, tuning the bell and fitting the bell with a clapper or appropriate striking mechanism.

    The casting process begins with a three-part mold consisting of the core, the dummy or false bell, and the cope, or case. A space is exposed when the dummy is removed that is just large enough to receive a molten alloy of about 3/4 virgin copper and 1/4 block tin. Each bell has a different metal content depending on its size.

    When, at night fall, the folks of Annecy see a red glow flickering in the sky and lighting up the
darkness to the north of their town, they know it is due to the flames and sparks belching forth from the Paccard foundry chimney. There will be a casting of bells in the early morning.

    Few are those who have not come, at one time or another, to gaze upon the wonder of molten metal. What a breaktaking moment when the master founder signals to his men to release the bubbling bronze! In fiery rivulets, it shoots down the ready troughs into the waiting molds. Flame and gases flare up from the vent holes, throwing a greenish light on men and material and filling the shop with the acrid fumes of burning metal and scorched earth. A vision of the inferno, with ghost like figures moving about furnace and molds, each at his post, directing and controlling the fiery flood.

    The founding of an 18-ton bell can be accomplished in a quarter of an hour, but cooling it will take up to 36 hours. Then comes the trimming and sandblasting and the bell is ready for tuning. Harmonic variances in the bell can be verified by the founder who test it with sophisticated electronic instruments. Then, the founder can lower the notes to perfection by shaving metal from the bell in specific locations indicated by the equipment. If a mistake is made, the bell must be recast.

    Making the clapper is also important because it determines how the bell sounds. If too heavy, the clapper can weaken the bell, which may cause the bell to crack. Hanging bells is a separate process, but is equally important if they are to function properly.

    After it is cast and tuned, the carillon is assembled in its frame and tested at the foundry. It is then disassembled, packed, and shipped to its destination, and reassembled in the same frame.

    It is thus that new bells are born. From the steeples of France to the church towers and belfries of Canada, the United States and beyond, they will sing throughout the entire world.

(Excerpt taken from, “Our Bells Ring Round the World” by van Bergen Bellfoundries, Inc.)

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