mbettis Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Some of my more recent creations. All are 20" - 22" in diameter and made from Bell Bronze (aka B20 - 80% copper and 20% tin by weight) at about 50 Rc. Cold forged by hand, and tapered via cymbal lathe, cutting tool in-hand. It's fun XXXXXX Thanks, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 wow!! i love these things so much! they make me feel very optimistic :0 can you put up some process pictures so we can see in detail all the steps ... when you got a minute, obviously would appreciate to see more! thanks - the cymbals are gorgeous :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 cant stop looking - they are mesmerising - like balls of light bet they sound good too..? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbettis Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Wow! Thanks, beth. I wasn't expecting such a wonderfully nice response! Sure, I can post some pics of the process. I'll do so tomorrow. ..gotta dig them up. I have a YouTube video that I'll post as well. Yeah, I think they sound pretty good. They sound like they weren't made purely for profit. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 i love that sound!!!! will await the extra photos cheers matt - makes me feel very cheerful to see this type of thing being handmade cymbals and bells - theres just something about em .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbettis Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 Here are a few pics of the process. Currently, I begin with raw castings that I import from a cymbal foundry in China. I have recently set up my own melting furnace, but am still a long way away from being able to produce large cymbals from scratch. This is after one round of top hammering... Now, the bottom.... Another top round... Now, I have removed most of the foundry crust via my cymbal lathe... More to follow.... Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbettis Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 Bottom crust removed... More top hammering... More. The cymbal has been inverted by all the hammer strikes... Some bottom hammering brings it back to the correct shape... More to follow... Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbettis Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 After a bunch of rounds of top and bottom hammering and sessions on the lathe to get the taper and weight right, it's finished... Although I left the bell of this cymbal un-hammered, I typically hammer the bells, as well. Thanks, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 wow! gorgeous.. do you have a file with the sound? or is that difficult - bet it would be lost in translation a bit... do cymbals always start life as casts? how much variety of sound can you get from starting point of the same cast? are the hammer blows always applied fairly evenly? what would happen to the sound if they werent, so they were closer by the edge or something? i dont know anything about this im just interested so scuse what may be very silly questions... is the foundry crust totally unkeepable? i have made cast objects before but nothing with a surface i had to remove - what is the crust on the cymbals - also really, how important to the sound is the lathe work? thanks in advance - and for the fabulous pictures - stunning finished cymbals!! as for casting your own - that would be amazing - i have a little gas crucible in my workshop that i picked up for nearly nothing at a school closing down, its only little but will reach temperatures for bronze - i have never used it yet - partly lack of spare time, and also i need to change the gas nozzle so i can use it on bottled gas, but i have long been interested in a home foundry - fantastic :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 also - are the casts not a all brittle ? do you have to take a lot of care not to crack them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moad Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Man: What a Great sharing of a very popular musical instrument. I am all in! JBM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 also - are the casts not a all brittle ? do you have to take a lot of care not to crack them? Hi Beth have a look here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex8DZBctfM8 Happy Christmas ....and Beyond ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 very beautiful - thanks john - so they are not, in the case of these guys anyway cast in their final shape - that would make sense.. happy christmas to you and beyond too! see you on a course at some point in new year i like matt too, how youve used the lathe marks and the hammering together to make nice visual contrast. im interested in what this does to the sound, im a musician myself, although i dont use cymbals, but i love anything with a percussive attribute tambourines, bells the metallic element/resonance is interesting to me particularly - and am interested in how this kind of thing can be 'tuned' by hand - and how much margin youve got to play with in terms of the sound when youre making them. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Wow!!!! I had no idea cymbals were made that way. I think I'm going to have to try some of those shaping techniques to my spinning work.... Thanks for sharing mbettis and john b. mbettis- I really like the way you leave some of the mill scale on the cymbal. Kinda gives an eye into the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Nice work and pictures. Did I detect a dog head hammer? How do you like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan hartwell Posted August 23, 2019 Share Posted August 23, 2019 Been a drummer my whole life 50 years and have 16 different cymbals on my kit !! Do you sell these wonderful creations ?? Would love to test drive and hear how they hold up to / or blend with my collection of Paiste 2002 cymbals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan hartwell Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 These posts are 8 years old. Any cymbal making currently going on ? And are the creations for sale ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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