Old school bell.....

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197
Location
Northern Lower Michigan/Troll
I am building a replica of sorts of a one room schoolhouse for my wife and I and am looking for an original schoolbell.

I had to build on an existing basement for money reasons, and what I came up with to fit and not look like a ranch house was a one room school with little additions off of each end like you often see. I need the bell to lend it authenticity.

Anyone runs across one of those at a reasonable price let me know. You can buy them on Ebay, but their asking prices are not acceptable to me, and I see that same ones on there forever, so they must not be acceptable to anyone else either. I would prefer the kind with the rope wheel.

Also, I am looking for one of those old ceiling fans where the armiture stayed still and the windings turned. Very heavy old relics, but they are what I want. The new ones all suck.
 
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Larry, my wife is a bell collector and I kinda tag along with her passion.
We have attended several national bell collector conventions and have learned a thing or three about bells.
First, a large bell like you describe will be expensive. No getting around that.
Cast iron will be cheapest, brass more expensive and bronze the most expensive.
The American Bell Association has a web site and forum you can contact:
http://www.americanbell.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=b7524c72242718d6b24e33f9c4121200

On the forum you can find the name Neil Goeppinger. He is the best known large bell collector in the ABA, maybe the country. He can direct you to dealers who will be happy to sell you one at heart stopping prices. Sorry, that's the way it is. Write me if you want contact info for Neil.
I would like to have a 30 inch bronze for my house but that is probably not going to happen.
 
I don't know where you're located, Larry, but here in Ohio, many of the old farms have/had a "dinner bell" that the wife would ring to bring the hands in from the fields for dinner (or in an emergency).

They occasionally show up at farm auctions or estate sales (both of which are somewhat heart-rending for me, since I hate to see the old farms being broken up), and at what seems to be fairly low prices.

They're generally cast iron bells, either free-hung, or in a ring, and are usually arount 12~15 inches at the large diameter.

If you're in or near a rural area, one of those might be your best bet.
 
I don't know where you're located, Larry, but here in Ohio, many of the old farms have/had a "dinner bell" that the wife would ring to bring the hands in from the fields for dinner (or in an emergency).

They occasionally show up at farm auctions or estate sales (both of which are somewhat heart-rending for me, since I hate to see the old farms being broken up), and at what seems to be fairly low prices.

They're generally cast iron bells, either free-hung, or in a ring, and are usually arount 12~15 inches at the large diameter.

If you're in or near a rural area, one of those might be your best bet.

We have one of those (came with the house, I'm sure as just a decoration). It is very loud.

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Frank

I have patience, I will find one "Before" one of the collectors get it.;)

I see them for about $1800, but I am not that rich.....

If all else fails I will turn one out on the lathe and paint it so you can never tell. I don't really have an actual use for a bell, but a real one would be cool.
 
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