The Deagan Project: Finale

The Felt Strips

I didn't find any felt that I thought appropriate for the replacement so I tried other materials. I needed strips that were 1/2" wide by 3/8" thick. 

1.  Weather stripping- Too soft, it dampened the resonance.
2.  Plastic tubing- Too hard, it produced a buzz.
3.  Closed cell foam (Backpacker's insulation pad)- Perfect!

Goldilocks would be proud. Since I was playing with silicon I decided to try adding a bead of silicon to the top of the foam to hear the results.

This produced a ring that lasted for 2 minutes. That was great!.....for some applications but not for bells. It also brought out the higher partials and over powered the fundamental pitch. I went back to just the closed cell foam, but at least I know how to make a metal bell ring for a very long time.

I cut the foam to the proper length. width, and height. Placed them over the wooden support rails and put holes in the foam to match. 

Now I could install the bars. I put the washers followed by the isolation tubes on the mounting pins, and isolation tubes on the side pins. Pin height was critical, Too low and the tubes would swell up and dampen the bar. Too high and the case wouldn't close. At the start of the project I measured the height of the pins before I disassembled anything so at least I had a starting point. As it turned out it was trial and error: tap in the pins, place the accidentals over naturals, close the case and check for gaps. After 3 or 4 attempts it was finished.

The Case

Even though the case was badly scratched I chose not to try and refinish it. Both the top and bottom were plywood, I felt that the top plies were so thin that sanding down to bare wood would severely weaken the structure. I left it as is, but I did replace the cotton clothesline rope (handle) with black paracord.

FINISHED!!

Deagan Model #1120 restored!