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Evgeniy Sribniy
Bell-casting day has a particular significance for anyone party to the mystery of the bell's creation.
Evgeniy Sribniy
The bell is first conceived on the drawing board, after which the bell-makers produce patterns and molds.
Evgeniy Sribniy
The components are fixed on a support so that the space between them is exactly the same as the thickness of the end product — this is vitally important in terms of sound reproduction.
Evgeniy Sribniy
The grandiose spectacle belies the amount of painstaking work involved. The result depends on many factors: the calculation of the components; the temperature regime; the time set aside for each operation.
Evgeniy Sribniy
The temperature in the furnace is close to 1200 °C. A smelter in a cloth suit stirs the "brew" from time to time with a long log. The log becomes charred in front of his very eyes.
Evgeniy Sribniy
The liquid metal first trickles and then flows as a stream of fire into the black opening in the cast.
Evgeniy Sribniy
When the bell cools, the grinding and smoothing begin — a long process that sometimes lasts for weeks.
Evgeniy Sribniy
The actual molding itself takes about 10 minutes, but the preparation stage can last a few months, depending on the complexity of the work.
Evgeniy Sribniy
Bell bronze is 80% copper and 20% tin. Only the most purified materials end up in the furnace, otherwise the sound just would not be the same.
Evgeniy Sribniy
Although not eternal, bells have a very long lifespan, about 500-600 years. This is the Five-ton Bell, cast for the belfry of St Isaac's Cathedral at a plant in Voronezh.
