About round clock gongs

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 3:31 pm     Post subject: About round clock gongs

There is a large number of clock coiled gongs for sale in the internet. But it is very easy you get disapointed about its sound since you cannot listen to it when purchasing online.
This clock part seems to be simple: a coiled steel wire firmly screwed or pressed in an iron base. Would it be hard to make, instead of purchase? What type of steel can be used? Any special treatment needed? How thick? How long?
I read somewhere that using a flat wire instead of a round one makes better sound. Is this true?
I am searching the net but can't find answers on this subject, so any help, tips and tricks will be welcome.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:37 pm     Post subject:

The gong must be made of hardened "spring" steel and the base must be cast iron or a similar hard metal. Otherwise, it will have no resonance.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 6:49 am     Post subject:

Hardened or tempered?
I am not an expert about this, but hardened steel does not bend: it breaks. I tryed to bend old gong coil and it did not break.
I already tryed making some gongs using silver steel rods because I was told to use high carbon steel. I purchased the rods - 2mm and 3mm, 2 meters long - and hand made the coils. Screwed firmly in a gong base and.... no sound.
Then I remembered that new chime rods have a blue color and decided to put the coil on fire... Well, heating in the stove fire is not easy and result is not a bit uniform and I didn't know how much to heat. But after this treatment I tryed again placing the coil in base and... YES, SOUND! Not THAT deep pleasant sound, much more a kind of 'boing' that is common in american kitchen clock, but at least a gong sound.

Will try again. While I don't find any technical information - it must exist somewhere - I will keep trying my way. I will not rest until I discover the secret for making a deep sounding cathedral gong like this (After the bells chime):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpmARP3Eqtc

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 10:49 am     Post subject: clock gongs

Any large clock gongs that I have seen are flattened rather than round and are tempered metal. I've seen smaller clock gongs that are round wire. Metal used can include bronze or steel, similar to that used in chime rods, although chime rods can also be brass or copper. I have one chime clock that has coil gongs for the westminster chime instead of chime rods. The company was known for the sweet sound of their chime clocks using rods or tubular bell chimes. However I am not impressed by the sound from their coil gongs. I haven't yet determined what metal they used to form the gongs.