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This might sound like a pretty obvious question, but....

I'm fixing to cut an upright bell to put into a detachable bell tenon, and this particular one has a groove machined into it where the bell is designed to fit.



Is there any method I can use to determine exactly where the bell needs to be cut, or is it basically "trial and error" till I get the right location?

My concern is cutting off too much, of course...

I usually slip the tenon over the bell and mark where it comes to and use that as a starting point.... removing perhaps 1/16th" at a time until the fit is good.

Thanks guys, for the advice. I thought there might be some sort of mathematical calculation that could deduce the correct place to cut, but with my crappy math skills, trial and error was the way to go.....

In my (limited) experience, the York-style detachable bell is much easier - since the entire tenon is a single taper inside, you simply put the bell in and cut at the bottom....this one was a new experience for me.

Bloke, I'm glad the bell eventually worked out for you (it must be so nice to have all the right tools!) - the bell I received in trade worked out very well for me, too...a happy instance where both parties came away satisfied.....

Similar procedure: when my tech and I replaced the bell on my Bessophone, we did what Dan recommends to get the bell tail into the stack ferrule.

The only advantage is that we had the removed bell to wrap a string around the tip where it was soldered into the stack ferrule and transferred that measurement to the new bell, marking the spot where the circumference was the same.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY - what Dan said - we backed off a half inch and gradually trimmed it to the point in the bell taper that had a snug fit proper for soldering.

I guess you could take a strip of paper, insert it and expand it into the inside of the tenon, to get a similar mark to work from to transfer that measurment to the bell to be soldered into the tenon.