12"

Rolling

Rolling

Cross rolling

B20 production (Formula 602, M.E. 602’s):

Production of Paiste’s B20 alloy “blanks” were supplied by Swissmetal from 1947? to 1994. (Paiste’s B20 lines 602 and Sound creation were discontinued because Swissmetal quit making B20 blanks, it’s assumed it wasn’t cost effective for them as Paiste would have been a small customer. A German company now makes the blanks for the “reissue 602’s” and ME 602’s)
The B20 alloy is “tempered” [3] at the beginning of this process. A cymbal “blank” is of B20 bronze is produced by hot rolling [1] and “cross rolling” [2] it from a small, thick ingot, into a large circular piece of bronze.
The “hot rolling process” [1] forms the crystalline structure within the cymbal that contributes to the more refined sound of Bell Bronze.
After being rolled out to approximate size, the flat blanks are delivered to Paiste. They are then re-heated, receive a hot-stamped bell, and quenched in water for “annealing” [3].
In terms of shape at this stage, they are a raw, unworked cymbal blank, the cymbal looks like a giant bronze potato chip covered in oven crust.

Punching the hole:

Hammering:
hydropneumatic hammer that is operated completely manually With his right foot he controls the “power”.

1. Forging the dome: Where the dome is pressed in, i.e. the transition from the dome to the disc, this is the weakest and most sensitive point of every basin during production. Therefore, the first thing we do is to forge the dome well, with intense hammers on the disc right next to the dome. The hydro pneumatic hammer strikes the bronze blank with a rattle like a sewing machine. As a result, the material is compacted towards the top and the top does not jump off. 2. Shaping the curvature: The pelvic curvature is driven into the correct shape by regular hammering on the disc from the inside out. 3. Forming the sound: With a lot of instinct and craftsmanship, the cymbal is turned around its own axis in the smallest of steps under the hammer. A certain sound is created by different density hammer patterns and different depths of impact. hammering specialist therefore has a reference cymbal in front of him and compares it again and again with his newly produced cymbal, but for the first time only according to the shape and hammer pattern, but not yet according to the sound

Specification card Deburring and cleaning: Stamping and printing: Coating: Sound test: Klangmuster

Twenty and Twenty Masters Collection production:

The initial “Twenty” blanks were supplied from the Foundry of Murat Diril in Turkey along with pre-work done to the cymbals before they have been shipped off to Switzerland for completion.
There were well publicized issues with the quality of the blanks and high rejection rate, so Turkish suppliers were changed before the current Twenty series started.
Paiste emphasizes that every crucial stage of the production is completed by hand, from the initial casting to the lathing and hammering.

B15 (Paiste Sound Alloy):

B15 just like B20, rolled in different directions. . The tint of the Paistes changes during this process from a dullish gray into a nondescript sand-like color. B15 they would have to heat the whole of the cymbal to press the cup in.

which are supplied by the Wieland works in Vöhringen near Ulm (Signature, 2oo2) After this process, the blank is allowed to cool for 24 hours. As a result of this annealing, the material is now more pliable and tougher so that it can withstand the formation of the dome. Punching the hole:

B8 (2002 Alloy):

The mill/supplier (Swissmetal) most likely pours out long square ingot bars (the casting part), it is then cooled and "cold rolled" [1] multiple times (see link below) into long thin sheets (hence Zildjian's term "sheet bronze"), they then cut circular discs out of the sheet and deliver them to Paiste. Cold rolling operation actually increases the strength via "strain hardening" up to 20%, it also improves the surface finish and holds tighter tolerances. I've seen the video of them heating just the center of a B8 cymbal to press the cup in.

Differences between Paiste, Zildjian and Sabian's production process

Paiste tempering: The temperatures are considerably lower than at Zildjian or Sabian: when the hot cymbal hits the cold liquid all you hear is a modest hiss, instead of the frightening shriek at the other companies. You also start to see what I mean by Paiste being more conservative. They kept on doing things the late 1950s way while Zildjian kept doing more mechanization and later automation. The Rotary Hammer is an example of automation circa early 1990s. Zildjian were experimenting with pressing into shape rather than hammering for bow shape starting in the very late 60s (Robert Zildjian in Canada, later moved to the USA operation). The full process using the Rotary Hammer went: rotary hammering machine, then pressed into shape, then some additional hammering done by a person holding a cymbal under a mechanical hammer. Paiste kept hamming for shape right through to the present. According to my cymbal making friends how the shape of the bow is formed makes a crucial difference to the sound. Paiste was doing mechanization, Zildjian went for automation. 602s sounded the same in 1960 as they did in 1970 as they did in 1980 as they do today. Zildjians changed sound due to changes in production technology.

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  Zildjian's "Rotary Hammer" pressing in the hammer marks on an A Zildjian

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  Sabian pressing or stamping the AA cymbal into shape!

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  Sabian's automated hammering machine

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Notes and references

Rolling:

[1] Rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is similar to the rolling of dough. Rolling is classified according to the temperature of the metal rolled. If the temperature of the metal is above its recrystallization temperature, then the process is known as hot rolling. If the temperature of the metal is below its recrystallization temperature, the process is known as cold rolling.

Cross rolling:

[2] Cross rolling is a way of reducing the directional dependency of different properties of the rolled plate. Cross rolling is normally done by changing the rolling direction by 90° about the normal direction. Changes in residual stress distribution cross rolling leads to rolled product of comparatively uniform mechanical properties in all directions

Annealing

[3] Annealing is a heat treatment that alters the physical and sometimes chemical properties of a material to increase its ductility and reduce its hardness, making it more workable. It involves heating a material above its recrystallization temperature, maintaining a suitable temperature for an appropriate amount of time and then cooled. Bronze can be either cooled slowly in air, or quickly by quenching in water. In this fashion, the metal is softened and prepared for further work such as hammering, shaping, stamping, or forming.

Tempering

[4] Tempering is a process of heat treating, it is done to reduce some of the excess hardness, and is done by heating the metal to some temperature below the critical point for a certain period of time, then allowing it to cool in still air. The exact temperature determines the amount of hardness removed, and depends on both the specific composition of the alloy and on the desired properties in the finished product. For instance, very hard tools are often tempered at low temperatures, while springs are tempered at much higher temperatures.