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valmont325

Please identify this item...

valmont325
11 years ago

At first glance i thought bell, then i thought pendant light shade. But its confusing me because if it was a light there is no spot for the wire. There is a screw of some sort at the top. Its either aluminum or galvanized metal. any ideas?

Comments (21)

  • jemdandy
    11 years ago

    This could be almost anything. It could be a bell, but would not be made of aluminum. Galvanizing (hot applied zinc) is usually applied on steel such as wash tubs, roofing and large headed nails. We need much more information to pin this one down.

    How was the bell part made? It is lathe spun sheet metal, or a casting. A lathe spun part would have consistant thickness wall from top to bottom. The thickness will vary, but never far away from the original sheet metal it was spun from. Think large mixing bowls and cooking pots. A casting will be thicker and the wall thickness may vary considerably from top to bottom. Castings tend to be much heavier than spun or die pressed metal bowls.

    Iron or steel based material is magnetic; alunimun is not.

    How big is it? If it is small enoughm it could be a plunger from a butter churn, but is not shaped right.

    It could be a plunger as part of a manual clothes washer.

    Its shape is not correct to be part of a milk/cream separator.

    Where did you find this piece? farmhouse, garage, estate sale, scrap bin?

  • valmont325
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    i will have to try the magnet test. I found this at a yard sale. The Screw and nut at the top is very odd. Its so intriguing.

    It seems it was painted at once because inside it is flaking still.

  • bulldinkie
    11 years ago

    I think its a bell from an old homestead looks something like ours I have the bracket,ball inside.

  • jemdandy
    11 years ago

    Look at the other end of that threaded rod, the part inside the bell. Does it have a provision for hanging a clapper? This might be as simple as hole through the rod. A clapper can mounted in other ways such using 2 nuts and washers to hold the clapper hanger.

    A dinner bell may be mounted in one of two ways. The most simple would be to solidly mount the bell using the central threaded rod. The clapper would have a small rope or cord tied to its end and the bell rang by slapping the clapper against the bell.

    The second way was to mount the bell in a pivoting yoke. The yoke could be made to tip with a pull rope and the weighted clapper struck the swinging bell.

    I think that the pivoting yoke with rope lever, and the yoke support is missing from your bell.

  • jemdandy
    11 years ago

    Images of bells.

    Use google to find more. A complete bell with yoke and yoke mount runs between $50 to $125.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Images of Bells

  • lindac
    11 years ago

    If it's aluminum or galvanized, it's NOT a bell. The OP said it's light weight

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    11 years ago

    I think it could actually be the full size pattern/model of a bell for casting in a foundry. Aluminum would be easier to handle than a bronze pattern, more durable than a wooden pattern.
    Casey

  • lindac
    11 years ago

    How would you use an aluminum model for a casting?

  • jemdandy
    11 years ago

    "How would you use an aluminum model for a casting? "

    The model is used to form the sand mold for the casting. For details, consult a text book on sand casting, or google the internet to see if you can uncover information.

  • lindac
    11 years ago

    I am well aware of the sand casting process from a mold....but I think it's quite unlikely that a mold that has no place to hang the bell would be used as a pattern. And I have never heard of aluminum being used for a mold pattern, have you?

  • lazy_gardens
    11 years ago

    Can that nut at the top be removed? Does it leave a holethat alight could be mounted through?

    It looks like an old work light that has been modified.

    Or it could be a spun aluminum reflector.

  • valmont325
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I haven't tried but if i remove the nut and screw i could put wires down and make a light. I will try and take some more photos of it closer.

  • lazypup
    11 years ago

    I think I know what it is but I would have to see a closeup of the fitting on top & the underside to be sure

  • jemdandy
    11 years ago

    Most casting patterns were made of wood or carved from a filled plastic gear stock layup, but it is conceivable that an aluminum or pot metal pattern cold have been made. First, the master pattern made of wood was used to make a sand casting of a metal pattern. The metal pattern would be cleaned and smoothed and used as the production pattern. This two step process increased inaccuracy in dimensions for the final product.

    All of this discussion is moot anyway since we do not know anything about the thickness of this part, or the material. That is why I had asked if it was spun (or drawn) from sheet metal, but the original poster has not responded.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    11 years ago

    Large carillon bells are heavy, so they are hung from very strong bolts and nuts at top center, just as on this "pattern". If they are suspended at any point other than the top, they fail to ring musically.
    Casey

  • valmont325
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Here is a closeup of the nut on top. And maybe from this photo you can see the material a little better. And magnets do not stick to it.

  • lindac
    11 years ago

    My goodness!!! It looks like brass!! Perhaps it is a bell!

  • valmont325
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thin.

  • kashie_2
    11 years ago

    It looks like a base....maybe to a stand or something like that. With that type of bolt, it looks like something was screwed on it.

  • llaatt22
    11 years ago

    It is probably the outer part of a two or three piece sectional hat mold.

  • valmont325
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    i do appreciate all the suggestions but i feel no closer to the actual answer. Now i just have more of a range of what it could be. Grrrr why do i always have to buy things that have no info about them anywhere!?