clock chimes

After a long lay off from real modelling due to personal issues, I'm making my come back with what will hopefully be a quick hit.

I'm making a chiming mechanism to go with my Blick clock. I've robbed the chime bars, hammers and cams out of an old clock and will drive with a stepper motor. Any-one clued up on sound boards? I'm thinking about 8" * 6", but is ply OK? Thinner better? Do I mount it on 3 pillars to get maximum flexibility and hence max sound?
I'm thinking it should be like a loud speaker, with one side facing a box with sound deadening, the other facing out into the room. Or am I talking rubbish?

The original has 5 bars, it strikes Westminster on the top 4, then hits the bottom 3 in unison for the hours. I want it to just use the 5th for hours, so I need to make a new longer bar. Is piano wire the thing to use?

Edited By duncan webster on 31/03/2017 21:50:45

Edited By duncan webster on 31/03/2017 21:51:23

I don't think you want any absorber.

You might get better advice off a woodworking forum that has a musical instrument section. I think you need a box with a hole and the position of the hole and the mounting point of the chimes will be very significant. The resonant cavity is important rather than just having a flexible board.

The donor mechanism probably worked fine in a 'Napoleon Hat' mantel clock ... so anything roughly like that [in terms of cavity-volume and sounding-board flexibility] should suffice.

MichaelG.

.

Maybe something like a cigar-box would be good: **LINK**

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Blues/7201584/story.html

... it worked for Bo Diddley

Hi Duncan,

Not sure if I have understood the question posed, but chime bars are a cheap and nasty version and produce a far from pleasant tone with no or dissonant harmonics. Other alternatives are far more pleasant to the ear but far more expensive, but can be made in the workshop.

Those of us who have maintained fullsize rings of Church bells with clock mechanisms for chiming the big Church bells aspire to something more refined at home on the hours and quarters on a domestic clock.

I have restored quite a few sets of 'handbells' made by various makes over the years for change ringing.

For superior clock chiming you have to go down the late Claude B Reeve route via the Whitechapel Bellfoundry.

Just my own personal opinion of course.

Cheers,

Julian

Edited By julian atkins on 31/03/2017 23:33:51

A few years ago I built a cajon drum. I needed to use ply for strength for the front resonator. I found that I achieved both strength and excellent resonance by using 1/8" (3 mm) Baltic birch plywood. Very tough stuff.

Duncan Be advised that the thread on the end of a gong is a bastard thread. Taps can be obtained from Meadows and Passmore or probably any of the clock material houses. As can gongs in various lengths and believe me it's not worth making your own

Roy

Not if you're going to keep Julian happy

Neil

I'll send him some wacky baccy . In the meantime I'll stick with my cheap and cheerful. Thanks for the tips so far, I'll keep you posted. Tempting tho' it is to just re-use the old napoleon case, that has been vetoed by SWMBO. Even I think it's ugly.

Another thought [further to my cigar box suggestion]

One of the wooden boxes that we used to store 35mm slides in would probably work nicely. There are plenty around ... I bought two very good ones this morning, from the Charity Shop, at £2 each.

MichaelG.

I said I'd keep you updated, here's a couple of photos. Works a treat. Next thing is to make a box for it.

Edited By duncan webster on 11/04/2017 17:14:53