Bell tenon for my helicon

[PaulTkachenko]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of getting my bell made removable - it's an Amati. It will make it much easier to travel with.

The bell edge is 160mm diameter - will any sousa tenons/collars work?

If yes, how might I come by one?

Any thoughts appreciated...

Maybe you have a better idea for removing bells of helicons...

[bigtubby]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of getting my bell made removable - it's an Amati. It will make it much easier to travel with.

The bell edge is 160mm diameter - will any sousa tenons/collars work?

If yes, how might I come by one?

Any thoughts appreciated...

Maybe you have a better idea for removing bells of helicons...

That's within about 1.25mm from fitting King receiver/tenon, you can probably fudge that much.

Allied Supply sells all of the King hardware you would need.

[PaulTkachenko]

Here's the thing... I'm in the UK - will they sell/send to an individual?

Anyone wanna help?

[David Richoux]

Most bell receivers I have seen are not tapered at all, so depending on where you cut the bell flare (if there is no existing solder flange already there at a convenient point) you may have to change the sheet metal slightly anyway.
What will you do about the brace that is located past the solder joint on Amati helicons?

image.jpg

[PaulTkachenko]

I guess the tapering issue is a small price to pay.

Another option is to use nuts and bolts to pull it together, this is what we did on my last helicon and it worked a treat.

The problem with the brace is that it's a tube. Last time we put an L joint with a screw. Finding solid brass to replace it is heavy and expensive - we can do it, but I'm actually thinking hardwood might be much easier. Just glue it in and it will be easy to make a connecting join with a screw. Double basses often use wooden end pins...

Any thoughts appreciated and if anyone wants to help me get those parts...

[PaulTkachenko]

Joe, you can get allied parts can't you?

It can't cost a million dollars just to buy the parts...

Pretty please...

[PaulTkachenko]

The more I think about it, the nuts and bolts through drilled holes seems the best approach.

I will only be taking the bell off for flying, which won't be that often.

I'll use flat headed bolts, that should be quite flush on the outside...

[Donn]

What does that look like - what is the bolt hole drilled through, specifically? How many?

[PaulTkachenko]

Last time we did it we soldered the nuts to the inside of the bell and drilled 3 holes ala sousaphone round the connecting tenon. It worked a treat.

This meant that you have exposed nuts (giggle) on the inside of the bell. But, of course, nobody noticed it....

Then we replaced the bracket from body to bell with a solid piece (it was a tube before) and made an L connection with a screw.

This made the instrument much smaller when the bell was removed. Handy for flying etc.