What can be done with sleigh bells?
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It surprises a lot of people that we can transform their dark grungy bells into shining treasures. The most common options for fixing up sleigh bells, starting with the most popular choice, include:
- Clean the bells inside and out, gently polish them to a soft gold color, and lacquer the exterior to prevent tarnish.
- Clean the bells, but do not polish or lacquer
- Leave the bells in their original uncleaned, unpolished condition
Most people have a clear preference for polished sleigh bells, but we often get asked the question, "Will polishing will ruin the antique value of my bells?"
Polishing is a highly personal choice. If you like your bells the way they are, then you should leave them that way. If your bells are so dark and dirty that they are no fun to display and use, then by all means get them cleaned and polished so you can enjoy them again.
The bottom line is that gentle and careful cleaning and polishing does not reduce the antique value of sleigh bells. The patina of antique metal items, such as sleigh bells, sterling dinnerware, coins, and jewelry, is not the dark oxidation and dirt that accumulate from years of neglect. The patina is the underlying surface texture and warm "antique" color that can only be created by decades of frequent handling, cleaning, and use.
I have been told that old sleigh bells should never be cleaned and polished, however gently or carefully, because it "ruins their antique value". Taking that advice at face value, then I must conclude that these so-called experts believe no evidence of neglect should ever be removed from any antique. If that is the case, then:
...Grandpa's Model A automobile would be far more valuable rusting away in the back 40 than carefully restored to original working condition.
...and Grandma's sterling tea service should remain black with tarnish rather than gently hand polished to the luster it had when she was alive.
...and antique furniture covered with attic dust and mouse droppings should never be gently cleaned to reveal the texture of the maker's tools and decades of use.
I would agree that antique value would be lost if the Model A was modified into a "street rod", if the tea service was buffed with a heavy hand and coarse abrasives, if the furniture was stripped and sanded to remove all of its finish ... or if sleigh bells were polished with a wire brush, sandpaper, aggressive buffing, or acid dipping. But let's be realistic -- careful, gentle cleaning to restore an item from a neglected state back to its "used" appearance is quite appropriate.
Unpolished bells (far right and left) as received from a client and fully polished bells (center)
How we clean, polish and lacquer. Our goal is to remove the evidence of neglect, while preserving the underlying patina of age and use.
We have developed a slow, gentle mechanical process for cleaning and polishing bells. We do not use any shortcuts -- no harsh abrasives, acids, or buffing wheels. There are several stages to this process -- soaking to loosen the grime, cleaning to remove grime and heavy oxidation, and slow, gentle polishing.
The polished bells are clean inside and out, and they have a soft, textured antique-gold luster. They look exactly as if they had been hand polished with lots of elbow grease and a soft rag. All of the bell's original texture and design details are completely intact.
The gloss lacquer we use on our bells is a tough industrial product formulated for use on musical instruments and interior architectural metalwork. It is fully reversible, meaning it can be easily removed without damaging the bells. The dry lacquer is completely clear and non-toxic and does not affect the sound of the bells.
Cleaning-only is an option. If you do not like the look of the bells as they are, but you do not want them fully polished, we can put the bells through the first two stages of our process -- soaking and cleaning.
This will reveal surface texture and patterns obscured by grime. Cleaning will often improve the sound by removing dirt and other deposits from inside the bells. Cleaned bells generally have a medium golden brown color that will gradually darken with time.
Four cleaned bells (left) with a golden brown color and three fully-polished bells (right) with a soft antiqued shine.
Another question we often get asked is, "Can cracked sleigh bells can be repaired?"
We do not recommend repairing small, stable cracks or casting blemishes (small holes and pits). These are common cosmetic flaws that do not reduce the antique value or the useful life of your bells.
Although a broken bell with parts missing cannot be fixed, it is possible to repair a sleigh bell with a large crack. Most bells look and sound better after repair, but some do not -- there are no guarantees. Unless the bell is unusually large or rare, we think it is better to replace the bell instead.
If you would like to repair a bell, I advise contacting an expert at jewelry-quality "hard" soldering or laser welding (also called micro welding.) Our local jeweler charges $30 to $100 per bell to repair cracks with laser welding with good cosmetic results (see below).
We have seen quite a few bells "repaired" with conventional brazing or "soft" (tin-lead) soldering. In a word . . . don't! The results are usually awful.
A bell worth repairing. Our local jeweler laser welded a serious crack in this rare bell.
The crack ran along the upper half of the center circle, through the right side of the letter "H", and down to the center of the throat (slit.)
Sleigh bells made of steel were first made in the mid 1900s. Steel bells are an inexpensive alternative to solid-brass bells, costing well under $1 each in new condition.
If your bells have a rough, reddish coating on them, they may be steel, rather than solid brass. Do a quick check -- if a magnet "sticks" to the metal, the bells are steel. If the magnet does not stick, the bells are probably brass.
Steel bells do not spruce up as nicely as brass bells do. Cleaned and polished steel bells will range from soft silvery grey to a pitted deep brown, depending on how much they were rusted to begin with. The sound may not improve after cleaning and polishing, especially if the bells were very rusty to begin with.
We certainly can restore your older steel bells and put them on a new strap, but we do not recommend restoration unless the bells have a lot of sentimental value. View an example of restored steel bells...
The classic type of sleigh bell -- the "shank" bell -- is traditionally fastened onto a strap with a figure-8 bell pin. Shank bells are fairly easy to remove from a bell strap and to replace using a fresh pin.
A second type of sleigh bell -- the "rivet" bell -- was invented in the late 1800s and was produced through the early 1900s. Most rivet bells were fastened onto their strap with a copper or steel rivet. Some rivet bells produced in the late 1800s by William E. Barton were fastened with a small screw.
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| Bell with its original copper rivet fastener. A steel or copper rivet is the most common type of original fastener for this type of bell. | Bell with its original steel screw and washer. This fastening system was patented by William E. Barton in 1865. | Bell with our choice of replacement fastener -- solid brass screw and washer. |
Breakage. The old rivets must be removed from rivet-style bells, so the bells can be securely attached to a new strap with a new fastener. Although we have years of experience working with these bells, we do occasionally break a few bells when we remove the rivets.
Although we cannot predict if a particular bell will break, experience has shown that bells with cracks, very rusty rivets, or a structurally weak design are the most likely to break.
We want our clients to be informed about this risk. We do not offer any guarantees against breakage, other than our promise that we will take reasonable care to avoid unnecessary damage.
Replacement fasteners. We have experimented with using rivets similar to the originals to fasten bells back on to a strap. The results have been unsatisfactory and unreliable -- we do not have the fixtures and tools necessary to rivet bells properly.
Another fastener used by some people for fastening rivet bells are "POP" rivets (blind rivets.) They are unacceptable to us for several reasons. The most important disqualification is that blind rivets are not a historically accurate fastener. Although blind rivets were first patented in 1916 for use in the aircraft industry, they were not used commercially for other purposes until after WWII.
The machine screw is an alternative fastener that does have some historical basis for use with sleigh bells. We like how screws fasten the bells securely and easily, and we use them exclusively to attach rivet-style bells to straps. They do look different than rivets, however, and we want our clients to be fully aware of this issue.
Many folks want to know more about the age and origins of their bells. Please see:
Sleigh Bell Designs: What different kinds of sleigh bells are there?