I want a small, miniature version of a bell. Battery powered, nothing fancy. I want to mount it to my forklift at work. I looked all over ebay and the interwebs and have not been able to find anything.
Any ideas?
A small locomotive bell is almost an oxymoron. Besides, any locomotive bell would probably be too loud for what you have in mind.
There are full size bells for sale on ebay, but I don’t need that and it would be way too load for my use. I was hoping someone would make a small version as a novelty. My search turns up nothing.
I would bet you have been searching for “Locomotive bell”… try “Bell” or “Farm Bell”… there are several manufacturers that make brass and cast iron bells in all sorts of sizes.
Try “back up alarm bell.” Found one for $58 that requires no power. If you mount two, one will ring in each direction. They mount on the wheel.
There are powered versions, too.
If you want a miniature locomotive bell, you might try the suppliers of live steam models and parts. Google “live steam locomotives.” Once you get tapped into that subject in the search, there are probably many different suppliers that have minature steam locomotive bells.
They manufacture locomotives and rolling stock for ride-on trains in various scales for track gages from around 4.75", 7.5", and up to about 15". Bells are probably also available for model diesels in the same size range. They probably are made with a variety of operating details. Take a look at this site, and enlarge that smaller photo for a good indication of the bell size. That model is based on Sandy River & Rangely Lakes #24, which was a 2-foot-gage engine in common carrier service on the SR&RL.
https://allenmodels.com/sandyriver.html
If you find some of these companies, you could also call them and ask who they else in the business might have the bells you are looking for.
I think Kemtron made a 1/8 scale steam locomotive bell, in the olden days. But, yes, there must be bells made today for large scale steam models.
Now, the battery power. That’s gonna take a few pleasurable hours of fabrication.
I like it!!
Ed
Search “dinner bell”. They come in all sizes, but in my mind the small kind with a wood handle come up. Take off the handle. A train bell has a rich tone, a small bell will make a ting ting sound. An example:
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKBELLG.html?showreviews=1
Google had an endless array of possibilities.
Found it:
http://ibls.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Kemtron_Corporation
$17.50, back in the olden days. A wee bit more now, I’ll wager.
and here’s one you might actually be able to find and buy:
http://www.swiftlocomotiveworks.com/Bell.html
Ed
There is such a thing as an electronic bell (e-bell). They are used to replace traditional bells as they have no moving parts. Just a circuit board playing a loop of a steel bell being wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqaTL0GsY9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kedpd37HyI
The e-bell could be too overpowering. Maybe an air chime might be better?