We also have to consider what the bell was made of; if a metal with value, it was probably smelted; an iron bell might have been kept.
The purpose of the bell was to insure that the glass was turned. Since the most reliably accurate glass available was a thrity minute glass, that was the period of “the bells.” The glass had to be turned to accurately track the time, in English practice, in reference from Grenwich. So, striking the bell was only inportant in voyages where calculating longitude.
So, pirates in single masted coastal craft probably paid no mind to the time as they probably had little need for over-the-horizon navigation. Which would obviate the need for a bell for any purpose beyond being a way to sound an alarm.
So, that could be a case against putting a bell in the belfry.
But, it’s no better a case than one to install a bell.
Many 18th century warships like my WIP model of the sloop-of-war, HMS PELICAN, had their windlass and ship’s bell attached together. My bell for the PELICAN was made from an eyelet of an old boot that has seen better days. The eyelet was pried loose from the boot and using a pair of needle nose pliers, the lower flange of the eyelet was shaped into the form of a bell, then attached to the windlass structure that will be situated in front of the foremast. Soon my entire thread of the PELICAN model will appear on the forum again.
@Crackers - your method of building the bell is inspirational. I want to make it from styrene but I’ll probably use very similar technique.
As for the bell or no bell question: Let’s just say (for the sake of the argument) that this particular ship was captured by pirates few days ago, so it’s still more closer to its original design than pure pirate ship:)
My problem now is the construction of the bell. As you can see on the picture below, the construction is little bit different. It has four legs instead of just two. So I was thinking that maybe I’ll just hang the bell to the roof and tie the rope to one of the legs. Or I’ll join the two leg pairs together by rods and then connect these rods so I would have a structure very similar to Crackers’ design…
At last - I’ve builded the bell and the inner construction. I’ve measured it to the scale but looking at it in place, it seems to me wee bigger than appropriate. What do you guys think?
