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Subject:
From:
Charlie Lester <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Fri, 23 Jan 2004 21:29:34 -0800
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Peter Duys <[log in to unmask]> asked about Zimbelsterns,
one of the list's perennial topics...


The best kind of Zimbelstern is the kind you make yourself
out of an old record player turntable, some nice jingley
bells of different sizes & tones from Cost Plus, Crate &
Barrel, Pier 1 Imports, etc., using a small paintbrush
mounted upside down (bristles sticking up) for the bells to
brush against and jingle.

You get a nice 10" disk of, like, 3/4" plywood from the
lumber yard, and attach the bells with eye-hooks and short
loops of string or wire to the bottom side of the disk (*),
then affix the platter to the turntable platen with two
plumbing flanges and a "nipple" [that's a plumbing term]
about 8-10" long.

You attach the wooden-disk side of the flange with wood
screws, and then the side that goes onto the turntable can
be attached with sturdy two-sided tape, or epoxy or
whatever. You have to be sure to perfectly center the
flanges, wooden platter and turntable or the whole thing
will jiggle about and wobble like mad, making a frightful
racket and possibly even flop over. Not the effect you would
be looking for in a good Zimbelstern.

The idea is that the bells are suspended 8-10 inches above
the turntable, and as the turntable revolves, the bells
brush against the upright paint brush and merrily tinkle
away. The more random the jingling, the better -- I have
found the best speed is 33-1/3, fast enough that the bells
will cling and clang against one another without making too
much of a racket.

I've made at least a half-dozen of them, and the first one I
made more than 30 years ago is still tinkling away.

In fact I made one very recently. As I stood in the "World
Imports" store with a little mountain of bells in front of
me, very studiously jingling them in turn and placing them
in piles of "keepers" and "rejects," my activity elicited
the terse interest of several of the clerks and ultimately
the manager.

When he finally sauntered over and warily asked, in a
badly-faked jovial tone if he could help me, I replied, "No,
I'm just having a merry old time here with these cute little
bells, thanks!" and gave him a big toothy grin. That sent
him on his way and he bothered me no further, until I came
up to the register with about a dozen of the bells. He was
more than glad to ring me up and send me on my jingling way.

These Zimblesterns are so easy to make that even a child of
three could make one.

~
C


-------

(*) If you don't know which is the bottom side of the wooden
disk, ask the guy at the lumber yard counter and he will be
happy to show you.

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