TIERCEFUNDRY

--:-- Stroud, UK

Contact
  1. 01 Strickle
  2. 02 Core & cope
  3. 03 Pour
  4. 04 Cool
  5. 05 Tune

Cast in loam, tuned to the tierce, hung to outlast us. A board cut to the inside of the bell turns on a spindle and sweeps the loam core true.Over the core, a false bell of loam in the shape of the metal; over that, the cope. Then the false bell is broken out.Bell metal, 78 parts copper to 22 of tin, goes in at about 1,100 °C, mouth down, filling from the lip to the crown.Days in the pit. Too fast and the bronze cracks; the larger the bell, the longer it waits.On the tuning lathe, metal is pared from the inside until the five partials sit where they should.

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01The foundrySince 1991

Tierce is a bell foundry in Stroud. We draw, cast and tune bells for towers, carillons, clocks and ships.

Every bell starts as a drawing like the ones on this site: a half-section, to scale, with the thickness of the sound bow written beside it. The drawing decides the tone before the metal does.

We mould in loam, the old way, because it lets us sweep a profile to the millimetre and change it for every bell. Then we tune each one on the lathe to true-harmonic pitch, five partials at a time.

Selected bells022016 – 26

All bells(31)

Margery F♯5 · 2019 Hild D6 · 2019 Dorcas A5 · 2021 The Weir C♯5 · 2016 Lark B♭7 · 2023 Brother Wat C6 · 2008 The Quiet One F♯6 · 2012 Mariner C7 · 2014 Ann of the Weir A5 · 2016 Joan C6 · 2016 Great Edith A♭4 · 2023 Tobias C♯6 · 2003 Fen A6 · 2020 Reed F6 · 2020 Cassia E5 · 2023 Peregrine G5 · 2011 Old Harrow F5 · 1998 Morrow E♭6 · 2023 Wren E6 · 2005 Corrie F7 · 2022 Candle E7 · 2023 Mercy B♭5 · 2019 Hollin F♯5 · 2009 Sable G5 · 2023 Thorn D6 · 2014 Vesta D6 · 2001 Gale E♭5 · 2024 Linnet E6 · 2024 Plum B♭6 · 2023 Hesper E♭5 · 2026 Osric F6 · 1991

The five partials of a bell

182.4 Hz two octaves below the nominal

The lowest tone, and the last to die away. The whole rim swings in and out in four places, with no nodal circle.

Sound is off until you strike. Synthesised from Margery's five partials.

  • Hum: two octaves below the nominal. The lowest tone, and the last to die away. The whole rim swings in and out in four places, with no nodal circle.
  • Prime: one octave below the nominal. Also called the fundamental. The same four-way swing as the hum, but split by a nodal circle across the waist.
  • Tierce: a minor third above the prime. The partial that makes a bell sound like a bell, and gives the foundry its name. Six nodal meridians, one circle.
  • Quint: a perfect fifth above the prime. Quiet in most bells, and the least audible of the five. Its nodal circle sits low, close to the sound bow.
  • Nominal: one octave above the prime. Eight nodal meridians. It is the partial the ear names as the note of the bell, and the one the tuner sets first.

04MethodNine steps

Drawing(01)Loam(02)Strickle(03)False bell(04)Cope(05)Pour(06)Cool(07)Tune(08)Hang(09)

01

Every bell begins as a half-section to scale. The thickness of the sound bow is decided here, and with it most of the tone.

  1. Drawing: Every bell begins as a half-section to scale. The thickness of the sound bow is decided here, and with it most of the tone.
  2. Loam: Sand, clay, horse dung and goat hair, wetted and trodden. It holds a sharp edge and survives 1,100 °C.
  3. Strickle: A board cut to the inside of the bell turns on a spindle and sweeps the loam core true, a few millimetres at a time.
  4. False bell: A layer of loam in the exact shape and thickness of the metal, laid over the dried core and swept by a second board.
  5. Cope: The outer mould, built over the false bell and baked. When it is lifted off, the false bell is broken away.
  6. Pour: The cope goes back over the core, the mould is buried mouth-down in the pit, and the metal goes in through the crown.
  7. Cool: Hours for a handbell, over a week for a bourdon. Hurry it and the bronze cracks.
  8. Tune: On a vertical lathe, metal is pared from the inside until the hum, prime, tierce, quint and nominal agree.
  9. Hang: Headstock, clapper, bearings and wheel. Then the first ring, which the tower hears before we do.
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