Casting the bell - Bronze Casting: 1000 year old bell - Part 6

#appliedarchaeometallurgy #ancientmetallurgy
Part 1:
• Bronze Casting: 1000 y...
Part 2:
• The core is finished -...
Part 3:
• Making the wax model -...
Part 4:
• The wax model and the ...
Part 5:
• The mould, the firing ...
Part 6:
• Casting the bell - Bro...
The bell casting
Finally, the day I've been working towards for the last five weeks has arrived. Without the massive local support in Paderborn of many preparations would have taken much more time.
On the 16th day the furnace was built further, the building material was mixed with clay, and the mould was fired further. On the 17th day the furnace was completed, the mould continued to fire and my foundry team finally arrived. The charcoal burner also took the opportunity to do a lot of work.
On the 18th working day, exactly five weeks after the start, the bell was cast from three crucibles with 20 kg tin bronze each. This is the alloy Theophilus specified. At 12.00 in the melting furnace the metal was started to melt, which had already melted 3.15 h later. Nevertheless, we only cast at 17.20 to give the visitors of the Vespe the opportunity to witness the casting.
At 20.45 the bell had already been demoulded, as these early medieval bells have to be freed from the casting core due to their thin wall thickness while still warm to prevent them from cracking due to the shrinking metal.
More in detail info at: en.archaeometal...

[@scallywag7750]

Loved it all! From start to finish - nice! Waiting for more uploads

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

More is on the way. It will be on larger scale late medieval bronze casting as well... (;

[@jagboy69]

Well done! That was a lot of fancy footwork. I'm glad no one got hurt. Looked like a 3 ring circus! Congrats!

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

Thanks!

[@yamabiru4553]

Well done!

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

Thanks, I appreciate this

[@__austrianoldboy_9861]

Impressive hard work!

[@sushi6185]

Tolle Arbeit!

[@ravisahu9034]

Atleast 1 time ayou have to ring the bell

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

We did to analyse the sound. But the Church did not want this filmed before the bell is consecrated. If you would like to hear a similar, though earlier bell, check this video out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYnGZKl3ptp3qLc

[@juliam5314]

Beeindruckend! Tolle Leistung!

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

Danke ja, die Leistung des Teams ist beeindruckend.

[@waynecooper6431]

Brilliant work sir, fascinating to see the theophilus furnace in use

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

Oh, I have been using it for 10 years now!

[@waynecooper6431]

May I ask, what is the smallest of that type of furnace you have used?

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

The smallest was about 50 cm in height

[@waynecooper6431]

Thank you, I have wondered how small a furnace like this could be before the natural draught becomes inefficiant.

[@leonidasmiglioriniplaster]

@@ArchaeometallurgieDe What's the material the crucible is made, and what is the kind of blower?

[@zvonazgnadbiskupije1094]

Is that near cathedral in Paderborn?

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

Yes, it is! Very near actually. It is right between the cathedral and the Kaiserpfalz.

[@donniebrown2896]

amazing how you got the kind of heat to melt copper. What was your fuel source.

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

Charcoal. The metal was bronze, though

[@donniebrown2896]

@@ArchaeometallurgieDe oops ! So amazed at the art I wasn't paying attention. Thank you.

[@jondoes8222]

I use coal and coke residue left from other castings...….

[@alokpandey9532]

I have a question - should you take the first melt of bronze, or the second one? I mean if you are making alloy from copper+tin on your own

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

Take the first one, of course

[@Vladpryde]

I thought Jesus was a carpenter, not a bell maker? XD

[@ravisahu9034]

Sir ek Baar Baja to dete Ghante ko.

[@LexieAssassin]

Oh! Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut, und kann ich nicht Sie verstehen. Die Übersetzung ist nicht perfekt, aber ich kann verstehen das denn. Es tut mir Leid, aber meine Grammatik ist nicht sehr gut, und ich kenne nicht viele Wörter. In der Schule, nach zehn Jahr, habe ich zwei Deutsch klasse gehabt, und nicht mehr habe ich gelernt.

[@ArchaeometallurgieDe]

There are English subtitles!

[@LexieAssassin]

Apologies for possibly being unclear with my limited German! I meant that the English subtitles help but they aren't perfect since there's bits that aren't translated.