Homemade "Bell"

[Mike_L]

Awhile ago I had a pair of old GP hi hats my neighbor gave me for free. Knowing that I'd never use these, I put them away. Recently, I remembered I had them and with my recent surge of DIY creativity (see homemade kickpad thread) I decided to do something with them.

Basically all I did was use a 24 TPI metal cutting blade on a jig saw and slowly cut through the metal, taking off bit by bit until I had some kind of polygon shape centered around the bell. (I tried to make the best freehand circle I could so grinding it would be easier)



After I got it all cut down, I initially stuck it on a bolt with a bunch of felt washer to keep it tight and put the bolt and bell onto a regular old drill so that I could spin it while it was grinding. That didn't work too well because the bell kept coming loose, and I'd need something to keep the drill steady. So I just did it by hand.





Turns out that the cymbal sounded 100% better as a little bell. Mind you, it doesn't sound nearly as good as a professionally-crafted bell. But it was a fun and quick project. I'm going to make some other effect cymbal out of the other hat next.

If you have a cheap, damaged, and/or cracked cymbal laying around, this is a fun way to make good use of it. (Please don't do this to any vintage/nice cymbals! Just the cheap ones!)

[DrumRookie]

Wow, that thing looks like it would bring out some nice tones! Thats really cool, it's like a new hope for cheap or cracked cymbals :P
(Nice way to censor the sharpie image btw )

[LudwigLifer]

Great post Mike L! This recycling of old equipment really helps get your moneys worth out of what you buy.Way to go!

[Russ]

Turning trash into treasure.. That's a sweet little cymbal mod you did there, it's going to sound awesome i'm sure. You could also place the area around the bell on top of the cymbal and layer it or something. Good job.

[itchie]

sticky!

yep im definitely going to do this next time

looks like a pro job

[steveplaysyamaha]

looks like a great job and I really want to do that to a junker too!

a word of caution, I would be careful about using those bench grinders to do a LOT of cymbals.

Cymbals are bronze which, tho fairly tough in cymbal form, is a very soft metal in general compared to steel. The bronze could build up inside the porous stone and begin to 'pile up', causing the stone to burst.

Not saying it WILL happen, just speaking from experience that a porous stone could explode when packed with bronze. Use caution.

[Mike_L]

Thanks for the comments, guys! It was a lot of fun, even though it didn't turn out perfectly round. But it cost me nothing, so I'm happy.

Cymbals are bronze which, tho fairly tough in cymbal form, is a very soft metal in general compared to steel. The bronze could build up inside the porous stone and begin to 'pile up', causing the stone to burst.

Thanks for that bit of info. I had no idea and I'll keep that in mind.