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Years ago we fully refurbished this belfry mechanism (brought it back from a non-functioning state to perfect working order). This job was just maintenance. It involved opening up the bushes (the bushes are what the axles sit into), cleaning them, greasing them with copper grease, testing the mechanism, and then a little bit of painting.
To properly clean out bell bushes, you need to lift the bell axles out. That invariably means using lifting tackle to lift the entire mechanism just a little bit so that you get the axles up clear of the bushes.
In the shot below you can see that the axle is up and out, and In the background you can see the lifting tackle that made the lifting possible (a chain pull)..
Another picture showing the lifted axle.
Note the dirty appearance around the bush. Over time grease dries out and becomes sticky dirt. It needs cleaned before new grease can be applied.
The bush, and the axle, scraped and wire brushed to death. They are now clean enough to be greased.
Copper grease (lots of it) in the bush – ready to drop the axle back in now.
Axle back in place and excess grease being squashed out of the top (and the sides, which you can’t see in this picture).
Cleaned bush on the other side of the mechanism.
And now stuffed with copper grease.
Bush caps cleaned and packed with grease.
And the cap bolts greased.
Both the caps now bolted back down.
A short video showing bell motion testing with the caps off, and once they were bolted back on.
Once the main task of cleaning and greasing the bushes was completed, some painting was carried out to the half bell wheel and the hanger pins area. There are three pictures of these painted areas below.
