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Re: Taking apart

Author: John Peacock
Date: 2015-07-27 17:53

There are two possible problems, and you don't say which you have. It's possible that the bell is stuck and doesn't move; but sometimes the bell can be freely rotated but can't be pulled off. In the latter case, the cork has bound to the socket on the bell, but detached from the tenon. This is trickier to solve: at least in the first case you know the bell will probably come off if you twist hard enough, and the only concern is not breaking something.

The advice written above seems to refer to the first case. To that, I would add that I have had success by gently warming the top of the bell, including the ring. You can do this by putting a small damp towel in a microwave and then wrapping it round. That expands things enough that gentle rocking/twisting opens up a small gap. Then you can slip a knife blade in that and continue to rock to lever the joint open.

If it's the second problem then your best hope is that the old cork will disintegrate entirely in due course. Try to lever the gap open as above and keep rotating the bell while pulling gently. Flooding it will bore oil will probably help - you can always de-grease it afterwards.

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