mbettis Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Hi, I'm Matt Bettis, and I'm a full-time independent cymbalsmith located in Simi Valley, California. In other words, I cold forge bell bronze into cymbals for use by drummers and percussionists. I start with raw cymbal blanks that I import from a foundry in China. I then hand-hammer them into the proper shape and tension and turn them by hand on my cymbal lathe in order to get them to the correct weight and taper. Here's a pic of my main anvil, hammer, some blanks, and a cymbal in the process of being made.... Here are a couple of pics of one of my finished cymbals. This one is 22" in diameter.... I would like to start casting my own bronze. However, getting the bronze thin enough to use will be the tough trick. Cymbal factories use large rolling mills, well out of my monetary capacity. I may end up having to forge the castings using a power hammer in order to thin them out. That's why I'm here. To learn about forges, power hammers and other smithing techniques. Later, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRunals Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Hey, it's good to have ya here. That looks like some real nice work. Do you have a website? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtWerkz Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Nice work Matt, I play and those look nice. X 2 on the website question, got one ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 hi there matt how cool - the cymbals look great - im really interested to hear all about that stuff - not too sure about forging cast bronze tho... just got a bad feeling about that! someone who actually knows will soon tell you tho really nice to have a cymbal maker on the site tho - ive always wanted one of those cymbal looking hang drums - do you know how they are made or much about them? maybe they are nothing at all alike to cymbals... and gongs? are they similarly made? i love all this stuff! how long you been making them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbettis Posted March 10, 2010 Author Share Posted March 10, 2010 Thanks! All I really know about hang drums is that they are idiophones as are cymbals. ...and they're cool. Some gongs are made in much the same fashion as cymbals, some are not, just depends on the type of gong. I've been making cymbals for about six years, and have been full-time with it for two. Making cymbals by hand is not a "get rich" idea, but I don't care. I love it. Thanks again, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Hi, I'm Matt Bettis, and I'm a full-time independent cymbalsmith located in Simi Valley, California. Later, Matt Matt: What a blast from the past! I lived in Simi for a while some time ago. We had to leave Sylmar after the 71 quake and moved to Simi. I left for Alaska the summer of 72 so I wasn't a long time resident. Still, I have some really good memories of Simi though meeting a couple of Charlie's family members once wasn't one of them. Happily Charlie was in jail by then! The Spawn Movie Ranch was still there by the Santa Susanna(sp?) then, I don't know if it's still there though. Anyway, nice cymbols, my Father was a metal spinner and I think that'd be a natural way of making cymbols. Then again, I know zippo about making cymbols. Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtWerkz Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Thanks for the link to your site Matt, very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 yes loving the site too - will direct my drummer friends there.... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clang Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Hi Matt: Nice niche! I forged finger cymbals for belly dancers as my bread and butter item for many years, beginning about 1966 or so. They were all and chased and stamped with intricate little designs. I don't understand why you are importing blanks from china? Most any alloy you desire, is commercially available, in your choice of thicknesses, if you are willing to buy in volume. Needless to say..a range of different alloys gets sold as " bell bronze". Traditional bell founders were extremely secretive. Silicon bronze is most easily available, and while not as brassy sounding, is decent acoustically and very pleasant and forgiving to work. Phos bronze is much stiffer, somewhat harder to find, sounds good and is very durable. Naval bronze is closer to traditional bell bronze in character and works OK. Don't mess with beryllium bronze..it is very toxic stuff! But, i would guess, based on experience, that bell bronze isn't necessarily the best alloy for your application. Casting blanks and forging to thickness is time consuming and you will have to deal with the undesirably coarse grain structure of the casting..as well as repeated annealing. I've done a fair amount of forging cymbals to thickness from heavier stock and it is slow and rather difficult, given the acoustic and longevity consequences of uneven thickness. Are you going to the California Blacksmith Assn spring conference? I'll be demonstrating there. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clang Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Hi Matt: Nice niche! I forged finger cymbals for belly dancers as my bread and butter item for many years, beginning about 1966 or so. They were all and chased and stamped with intricate little designs. I don't understand why you are importing blanks from china? Most any alloy you desire, is commercially available, in your choice of thicknesses, if you are willing to buy in volume. Needless to say..a range of different alloys gets sold as " bell bronze". Traditional bell founders were extremely secretive. Silicon bronze is most easily available, and while not as brassy sounding, is decent acoustically and very pleasant and forgiving to work. Phos bronze is much stiffer, somewhat harder to find, sounds good and is very durable. Naval bronze is closer to traditional bell bronze in character and works OK. Don't mess with beryllium bronze..it is very toxic stuff! But, i would guess, based on experience, that bell bronze isn't necessarily the best alloy for your application. Casting blanks and forging to thickness is time consuming and you will have to deal with the undesirably coarse grain structure of the casting..as well as repeated annealing. I've done a fair amount of forging cymbals to thickness from heavier stock and it is slow and rather difficult, given the acoustic and longevity consequences of uneven thickness. Are you going to the California Blacksmith Assn spring conference? I'll be demonstrating there. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal Dave Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Greetings Matt. I live in Simi Valley also and part of a group of people trying to establish a home for Adams Forge. It was a blacksmith school in Pasadena and now located at Heritage Square in East L.A. Look up Adams Forge website on the internet and people there may be able to help you. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Welcome to the forum Matt. My 14 year old daughter is a drummer and I was thinking about making her a cymbal. I have most of a sheet of 1/16" bronze left from an eybrow shaped range hood I made for a customer a few years ago. I forget the alloy but I think it was 5% tin and 95% copper. It is very soft although it does stiffen up quite well with working. I have no desire make cymbals for a living but I would really like to make one for her. Can you suggest any resouces for cymbal making? I had a thought about doing some repousse in the center of the cymbal rather than just the normal dome. I am thinking a face or a skull. Do you know if that would take a lot away from the sound? I know it would add greatly to the "cool factor" and help her realize I made it for her because I wanted to rather than because I am cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josho Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Matt, It looks like you are getting a high quality cymbal with the blanks you are currently using. Although it may be an expense, have you considered rotocasting? UFIP uses this process, I'm not positive but, I think it would eliminate the need for a rolling mill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 One can build a rolling mill , I built mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HM111 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Hey Crew I have a background in metal smithing from college - jewelry casting primarily. I'm a drummer - and I'm very hands on and curious about machinery and sound, so this was bound to happen one o these days. I'm still working on building out a shop for myself, but I thought I'd see if anyone near LA ever needed some free labor in exchange for the opportunity to learn a new thing or two, start to get things off the ground. Hit me up if so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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