The relocated frame.
The bellframe is of pine and is of a conventional lowside "A" pattern in the standard eight-bell layout with the treble and 2nd pits rotated ninety degrees. The frame is joined by glued dowling and plates held by screws and bolts. The frame originally had tie-rods but these were removed when the frame was moved to its current location and additional plating was added. The cills are 50mm2 section and the braces are 50 x 76mm section.
The frame is bolted to the steel sub-structure with a further layer of timber beams between to insulate the steel from most of the clapper-knock. It also creates a void between the frame base and ringing room ceiling to reduce sound in the ringing room. This void is filled with fiberglass insulation with tubes passing through for the ropes.
The sub-structure is essentially a large steel table with its legs bolted and cemented into a thick concrete foundation floor. The floor level is then raised to the level of the rest of the ground floor by an insulated timber floor. At top cill level, horizontal frame movement is less than 0.5mm.
Diagram of the sub-structure.
The headstocks are of rolled hollow-section steel with turned gudgeons welded on, which were then turned down further to bring them into true alignment with each other. The bearings are sealed ball-bearing units; NP16 on 7th and tenor and NP12 on the remainder.
All the fittings are to scale with the exception of the wheels and clappers and they are hung in the style of a conventional modern eight which in full size would have a tenor of between 10 - 14 cwt. The wheels are enlarged to facilitate better handling. The clappers are heavily counterbalanced, the balls of which are made from Duroplast FS 31 DIN 7708. The ball size is the same on all bells. The counter-balance weights are roughly inversely proportional to the hang of the bells with the staple length being the same on all bells apart from the front three which are fractionally shorter.
All bells are equipped with stays, mostly for aesthetic purposes, but do not engage with sliders. The back two may have sliders added in the near future as they are heavy to pull on to the balance from rest. This will also reduce the strain on the pulley units. The pulley wheels are cast nylon with twin ball-bearing units mounted in pine boxes.
The wheels are of traditional pattern but manufactured as one piece to increase strength. They are made of marine-grade 50mm plywood which is further thickened by 12mm in the soling area and again by 6mm shrouding. The spokes are traditionally patterned by chamfering the edges over the majority of their length.
The ropes were specially manufactured by Ellis Ropes and replace a temporary second-hand set that were originally used on the Balscote Ring when at their original home in Balscote, Oxon. These bells have now been relocated to the bellhangers workshop in Appleton, Oxon.
Bells swinging during testing.