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Author Topic:  Your favorite Bell crank design
Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2019 6:58 pm    
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Favorite Bell crank for round cross shaft the kind that you can remove with out removing
Cross shaft axel I’m thinking the Rittenberry Prestige is the best ever made!! So easy to remove an ajust. Maybe some one with a Prestige will post us a picture of this ingenious
Bell crank for round cross shaft axel.


Last edited by Johnie King on 14 Mar 2019 8:11 am; edited 2 times in total
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 2:49 am    
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The aftermarket unit Clem sells for push-pulls works okay:
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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 5:45 am    
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Thank you Jack that’s a good one.

The Bell crank on the Prestige uses only one Alden screw if I remember right.
The round crossshaft just seems the best way to create a axel, 5/16 is what the old push pulls has.
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 6:11 am    
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Does the Prestige cross shaft have a flat built in?
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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 6:25 am    
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Ron it’s been a while back that I visited with Gary at his Shop in Cookville
An he was showing me his new Bell Crank design I was overwhelmed to say the least
At how well this design would bring the round cross shaft axel back to the future for pedal steel.
Best I remember the cross shaft dose not have a flat
Grind. The design is a two piece Bell crank that attaches effortlessly.
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 7:02 am    
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I wonder if the manufacturers are using the same CNC shop.
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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 8:09 am    
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I don’t know Ron I’m thinking Gary had some of his CNC work done in California.
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jay thompson

 

From:
east peoria, il USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 1:43 pm     Prestige Cross Shaft
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The "Prestige" cross shaft does have a flat spot milled in.
Regards, Jay Thompson
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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2019 7:01 pm    
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Thanks Jay
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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 14 Mar 2019 6:49 am    
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Of course the The Mullen Bell cranks on Hex shaft work very well also.

Fessenden Bell cranks are crazy cool

Sho Pro makes very good Bell cranks.

It would be cool if some of the parts on pedal steel were standardized to fit
Most of the major brands.
Legs are a good example most but not all use same thread size.
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Charley Bond


From:
Inola, OK, USA
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2019 3:56 pm     bellcranks
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If I was going to build a Steel Guitar, it would have the Blanton Bell Cranks (MODIFIED) on it...

If I were going to rework a Guitar, I would go the easy route. I would use keyed shafts & modify the cranks as shown...



Drill & tap from the bottom & install the threaded allen head keypin upside down, tighten to your needs...
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Last edited by Charley Bond on 19 Mar 2019 7:21 am; edited 1 time in total
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b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2019 6:39 pm    
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Not for a round cross rod, but I prefer this design by Ross Shafer (Sierra):

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Bobby D. Jones

 

From:
West Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2019 7:38 pm     Your favorite bell crank design
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B0B that is a very unique design. When I worked in the light bulb industry we had some cranks of that design on production machines, They allowed for very precise adjustment on certain critical functions.
That would allow for exact timing of multi string pulls on a steel guitar.
With 6 or 7 parts per bell crank would make them costly to produce, May be the down side.
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2019 8:45 pm    
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I have often thought about an infinitely variable crank design but it's always going to have a lot of parts.

Maybe when I rebuild my homemade uni I'll try something anyway - it's not like I have to turn a profit! Smile
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2019 11:26 pm    
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I have it in my head that centre pull bellcranks (eg Dekley) are preferred, in some circles, to side pull cranks for tone reasons

regardless of the merits of that argument, does anyone know what that argument is?
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2019 11:29 pm    
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centre pull being like this:



as opposed to what you'd find under a Williams, Sho-Pro or any number of other modern steels
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 19 Mar 2019 12:14 am    
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Centre pull is more elegant from an engineering point of view as it avoids any twisting force on the crank. But my Williams sounds just fine. Smile
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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 19 Mar 2019 6:14 am    
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Yes Bob your pictures of Bell cranks is grate. I don’t know how you could have a better Bell crank than those on a The New Sierra.
I got too see the beautiful Sierra At the Dallas Show To say I was impressed would be a understatement Ross has took the pedal steel too a hole new leavel.
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 19 Mar 2019 6:53 am    
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Ian Rae wrote:
Centre pull is more elegant from an engineering point of view as it avoids any twisting force on the crank. But my Williams sounds just fine. Smile


thats what i figured - mine too

nonetheless, the avoidance of twist would do no harm to good pedal feel or the 'positivity' of the pull

maybe more a 'feel' thing than a 'tone' thing
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 19 Mar 2019 7:28 am     Re: Your favorite Bell crank design
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Johnie King wrote:
Maybe some one with a Prestige will post us a picture of this ingenious Bell crank for round cross shaft axel.


http://rittenberrysteelguitars.com/id14.html

some hi-res photos i saw before - from Wayne Dahl
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 19 Mar 2019 7:35 am    
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looking at the photo second from bottom right, there is a hex shaft and a round shaft (with flat). the cranks look very similar
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Bobby D. Jones

 

From:
West Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 19 Mar 2019 5:02 pm     Your favorite bell cran design
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Jeremy the bottom picture looks like there is a groove in the cross rod. The grove looks in line with the allen screw in the stop ring. Or am I seeing a reflection.
The double sided bell crank does pull even with no twist. MSA used that in the 70's. If you make them wide so the cross holes can be off set in 2 rows make for easier timing of strings.
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 19 Mar 2019 6:39 pm    
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I know I would be asking a lot from one thread, but I’ve often wondered whether a simple arrangement like this would work. With some sort of rose joint on the top.

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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2019 7:11 am    
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Cool idea Jeremy.
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2019 5:23 pm    
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Thanks Johnie - the more I think about it, the more permanent bellcranks make sense.

Especially for those changes that you might never alter (such as ABC pedals)

It might make sense for manufacturers to offer permanent cranks for some changes and adjustable bellcranks for others
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