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Recasting old bells
Old bells are melted down to cast new ones. The process uses the same techniques as centuries ago, including loam molds made with horse manure and chemically bonded sand cores cured by fire.
- 🔔 The raw material for the new bells was the church's old bells, cast in 1883 by the same foundry.
- 🐴 The loam used for the outer molds contains clay, goat's hair, and horse manure to allow gases to escape during casting.
- 🔥 Chemically bonded sand is used for the inner core, coated with an alcohol-based solution and set alight to cure.
- ⏳ Bell molds must cool very slowly to achieve the correct tone, going against standard casting principles.
- 🥄 The molten metal is poured at around 1,200°C, requiring careful temperature control to avoid obliterating the mold or creating a solid slab.
A split image shows a bell engulfed in flames on the left and a man with a sledgehammer on the right, with a large bell-shaped object nearby.