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What information to properly prepare your request for a church bell?

This page aims to help you ask questions prior to any quote request by giving you explanations to clarify your project.

The Paccard foundry: ancestral know-how

The first Paccard bell cast in 1796 still in its bell tower
The first bell cast by Antoine Paccard in 1796, founder of the Foundry, is still in place in its bell tower at Quintal in Haute-Savoie. Investing in a church bell is
therefore a long-term investment.
 
This ancestral know-how is transmitted from generation to generation; the 8th generation of the Paccard family is currently making its gradual entry into the Foundry. Each generation brings its share of technological innovations which enriches this traditional know-how and makes it possible to meet new demands from all over the world.
 
The manufacture of church bells, models of bell with a diameter equal to or greater than 39 cm is made on estimate because it is necessary to take into account all the other specifications related to the installation of the bell and its operation. 
Realization of a musical sculpture -ars sonora- by the foundry-paccard for the university of Tampa in Florida-USA

How will the bell ring?

how much does a fitted Paccard church bell cost
Traditionally, the bell is equipped with a wooden or metal frame – also called a yoke – associated with a wheel, allowing the bell to be rung in flight with a rope.
 
Depending on the country and culture, the bells are not necessarily set in flight but are fixed under a support (usually a beam) and rung from the clapper. They are said to be "hand drawn". A company in southern India has even created an electronic system for ringing the bells by a cable connected to the end of the clapper.
 
We offer bells with traditional handles or with a plate handle for this type of ringing. The clapper is suitable for this type of bell and equipped with a ring at the end to allow the cable or rope to be fixed.
how much does a fixed station church bell cost

Where is the bell going to be installed?

Paccard church bell equipped
Does the church already have a steeple? What are the interior dimensions? Or does she plan to build one outside? These questions are important to allow us to make the equipment (yoke, wheel) suitable for the intended location.
 
If the bell is placed on the facade, we can offer a metal belfry.
 
In the different cases, we generally offer a standard plan of the frame and we give all the dimensions for its installation. The space taken up by the bell must allow it to rotate completely – even if this is not desirable – to prevent it (or its clapper) from hitting an obstacle. Indeed, a shock when the bell is raised can crack it, and it will no longer ring.
How Paccard Church Bells Are Installed

Single church bell or ringing bells?

Paccard church bells installed in a steeple wall
The request is generally for a "single" bell, that is to say a consonant bell sold individually. It is not the subject of a specific tuning, which does not alter its quality. The perfect mastery of the profile and the manufacturing processes guarantee the production of high quality consonant bells (Musicality - Sound -timbre): these are always bells made of brass, a noble alloy of copper and tin. The specific profile of the Paccard Foundry guarantees an excellent sound and a very beautiful tone.
 
As soon as the bell tower has several bells, we speak of ringing. The more consistent a ringtone is, the more important the musical criterion will be. Indeed, when a bell rings alone, it is not necessary to tune it, insofar as the metal and the profile used are of excellent quality, which is the case for all Paccard bells.
But once they ring together, it becomes essential to tune the bells in such a way as to harmonize not only their notes, but also the parts that make up their sound.
Why are church bells tuned?

What about electrification requests for remote installations ?

Paccard church bell equipped with an electric ringing
The Paccard Foundry carries out, with its teams of fitters, complete installations of electrified bells as part of its campanist trade. However, for installations far from its geographical area, it offers solutions allowing the installation of the electrified bell with local craftsmen (builder, electrician).
 
This is the case for bells installed in its bell tower in a fixed position with an electric ringing fixed inside the bell allowing different programmed ringtones to be made.
 
We also offer bells mounted with their electrical equipment (volley motor, ringing) in a belfry and for which the tests and adjustments have been carried out beforehand in our workshops. This is the case for many of our achievements abroad.
Request for quotation
Church bell equipped in their metal belfry for export