Posted by Rick Denney on August 21, 2000 at 09:16:46:
In Reply to: Re: So where DID B&M get those mandrels? posted by Carole Nowicke on August 19, 2000 at 17:06:35:
If that is truly the case (and I have no objective facts to dispute it), then there ought to be B&M horns from before that time with similar construction, at least in terms of parts (bells, valves, etc.). If that is the case, I'd like to have photos of them to put in the catalog. If there are no previous B&M horns with similar parts, then they didn't just use the tools they had, they built new ones. If that's the case, someone at B&M ought to know it, because they would still be there.
The bell on my York Master was definitely spun on a mandrel. Of that, at least, I am sure.
I'd be perfectly happy to discover that B&M developed it all from scratch--the end result proves they got it right. In the absence of facts, myths abound. So, is it really true that B&M has no instument-makers old enough to remember what happened, even if they heard it from the master they apprenticed under? I find that hard to believe. If that's the case, though, then the picture library is that much more important, so that people who come by these instruments can get some clue as to their origins.
Rick "who keeps records of products he worked on in the 70's" Denney