Treble flapper board

This is the flapper board for the treble. It is needed as the rope is drawn across to fall in the right place in the ringing room to produce a good rope circle.

There are pulleys at the top and the bottom and the boarding simply prevents the rope from sagging when not under tension, then vibrating when a force is applied. This vibration can be felt when ringing and it can be very off putting to the ringer.

Having tried it, the bell feels much easier to ring than without the board.

The stay has now been shortened, and the new slider mechanism will be made in wood, not steel. Hopefully this will be ready to install in the next week or so. This will mean that the bell is completely finished - one down, seven to go!

Treble stay and slider

 The treble stay and slider arrangement has been the source of a bit of head scratching. The original idea was to use a special type of slider pivoted just below the bearings called a pendulum slider. This type of slider can work well in tight spaces, but sometimes it bounces against the stay and the vibrations felt on the rope.

After a recent visit by Matthew Higby to check on progress, the idea came up to use a version of the traditional "peg and latchet" type as here at SS Philip and James in Leckhampton.

After taking a few measurements I fabricated a trial version using some scraps of wood.  This was fitted tonight and with the bell silenced using at old bicycle inner tube, and the bell was raised to test it out. Fortunately, all seems to work well.

The treble set at backstroke.

and at handstroke.

The stay is a bit long, and will be trimmed to length. The slider will be remade properly using steel plates and it will have adjustments to make sure that the bell is not to light or deep set.