Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion bezels for bennett 76

I'm looking for the bezels for a bennett 76.
So far I've only found one place who has them and they're asking $300.00 each.
There must be a reasonable price out there somewhere. Please help!

I'm also looking for the window frames for a Bennett 76. I've found that this is a pretty hard part to come by. Where did you find the ones for $300? If I had one I'd be willing to try to reproduce another.

Hi Bennett boys , theres guys on here that do a lot of pumps and have parts , maybe they can help, also check the back posts in sale an trade.

Show a pic of the pump or bezel, I have a machine shop, could probably either make it or steer you in the right direction to get it made at reasonable cost. I can not imagine a bezel even cast that cost 2/3 of an 8hr day of shop rate to make, however if it is very intricate or needed a complicated die or dies to make it could get up there. ...DODOGAS

I'm the one that had them for $300...if you don't have bezels for a Bennett 76, you don't have anything. The bezel isn't that big of deal, it's that crazy stainless being on there that makes them so expensive. I bought 8 of them from one guy and gave him a PRETTY penny in trade for them. I've got 3 left, all having sold for the $300, hope you can get somebody to turn loose of them Thomas & Andrew, but if not know that I still have the 3 left for now.
Seth/Vic's Place

If you aren't in a big hurry, I know a guy that is almost finished with a set machined from billet on a CNC. He says he may make some casting using his newly machined parts as a pattern when they are finished.

I've seen some pix of the machine work and these look great. The casting, once painted will look exactly like an original.

Can't speak for him on cost but doubt they will be anywhere near $300. Are you in a hurry?

Morgan....you think your guy with the CNC would be interested in making several sets?? I would sure love to have them in my catalog, could probably sell tons of them.
Seth/Vic's Place

Don't know Seth, I'll ask. It does seem after the initial pattern it's just machine time, minimal materials.

I think the resin cast would have some takers also.

Ive had faces cast or have seen cast faces made and have learned the following.

1) CNC Machining is the best and only way to go as far as I am concerned.
2) Casting faces with intricate beveling or extremely thin facia is very difficult if not impossible (such as wayne 40A, 50 display etc.
3) Even using sophisticated casting techniques (expensive) the best results are less than perfect. Casting also incurs shrinkage that must be estimated when using various materials.
4) Cast Faces like the 76 SSE that use the back to house the clips, screws, and glass require a lot of hand work and/or machining to work. In the case of the 76, you still have to fabricate a pawl system through the lower portion of the face to lock it in place. And as Seth said, you're still missing the top and bottom stainless trim.
Im sure Ron Scobie could help there if you could get the frames machined.
5)The downside of CNC is the program cost for initial setup. On further sets that are machined, the person who owns the program is going to want to recover his costs.
6)IN MY EXPERIENCE AND OPINION ONLY, the machining cost plus finding the trim and your labor to finish the frames (attachments, tapping, etc)is still going to be close to what you can buy the rest of the pump for. With the one I restored, I paid as much for both frames as I paid for the whole pump without them and they both had to have the cracks welded. It also took a considerable amount of time to locate two frames.

Larry

Wow, I knew it would be difficult to get the three faces I need, and these postings only emphasize that fact. I have one bezel cleaned up and if nothing else is possible I plan to work out a fiberglas cast from it. I have been able to make smaller pressing of metal (brass and copper) which could duplicate the necessary stainless - chrome areas. It would not be possible for me to do them in stainless, but plated copper or brass would give the same look. Epoxy would bond the metal to the fiberglas.

I didn't say anything would be easy, but I am prepared to do what is necessary to end up with the desired result. Anyone have experience casting from rubber molds?

Al Kozeliski

Here's another quirk for you. When I got my 76 a few years ago it had three bezels. Two had the removable stainless pieces. One was cast as one piece and by some method, those "stainless" areas were plated but the rest of the bezel was not.

Anyone seen these? Later version or replacement parts?

I've made bezels for Sharmeters from fiberglass using an original for a pattern and plaster as the mold. Except from the back side, you couldn't tell it from the original. It was not as intricate as the 76 but I think the same methods would work.

I'd like to hear from someone that has used rubber molds. Gimme details, brands, do's and don'ts, shrinkage, strength, ability to capture detail, etc.

It's a nice pump. $300 isn't that bad to make it complete.

Morgan, The one bezel I have is cast of one piece without stainless. It is plated where the stainless would go but of course it is pitted because of the type of metal and length of time exposed to the elements.

There was a time when I thought of using plaster to make a copy of the bezel, but there doesn't seem to be any chance of using it on the back side because of the complexity. I've used rubber for casting, but not at this scale. The key would be to back up the rubber with a rigid fiberglas or at least anchor it to a plywood box/frame. If I can pull this off,I'll people know.

Dental Alginate which is a plaster type of material that turns into a type of rubber. You have to keep it wet or it will dry hard. Once again, it works for small things, but wouldn't work in this case.

Al Kozeliski

Morning, can anyone post a pic of the bezel?? Shrinkage is a minor problem. If they were cast in the first place they may not be easy to cast but should be do-able. We still have foundries and pattern-makers and shrinkage rulers and CRAFTSMEN, I hope ..I really hope, because if we dont we are really in for trouble !! DODOGAS

Hi All,
I am the guy Morgan is speaking of regarding making a set of billet 76 bezels. Thanks to Dick's kindness,(He has let me borrow a bezel from him to work with) I am able to work this project. I spent eons looking for a set without any luck. Then I posted an inquiry on this site and Morgan offered up a bezel for me to use as a pattern. I am about half way done. This is a set for my personal 77 clock face pump so I am taking my time. For those of you who have never seen a 76 bezel they are quite complicated. I estimate I have 12 hours of CNC machining time and another 4 programing and building fixturing, and only have the backs done. I expect the fronts to be a little easier to do. I am doing this in steps so as to have a solid set of programs to duplicate the process. Because of the tabs and such on the rear of the bezel the starting material was a 1 1/2" thick aluminum billet($130.00 a pop).I am not sure of the final run time as we are still programming and cutting. Since they are originally painted it may make more sense to cast from resin. I am simplifying the backs to make this easier to do but they still have all of the required tabs and stair step mounting points. I can speak from experience and 2/3 of an 8 hour day is way off. I would estimate 16+ hours (per Pair) of CNC machine time after the programing and fixtires are built. Final hand work and polishing will be another story. You might be able to cut some corners somewhere and cut quality but I do not work that way. I spoke to Ron Scobie about a year ago and he said he was working on the stamped pieces. Not sure if he ever completed. Seth, I will give you a call and we can discuss possibly putting something together, but I really need to finish these and take a good look at how to make them cost less. Right now based on flat machine time and material cost these will way exceed the $300 bucks for an old original by maybe 2X. Unfortunately there are few out there. I will look at resin casting once I complete my set.
Regards, Jeff

[This message has been edited by jrwienri (edited 04-14-2003).]

Wow! Did I open a can of worms or what?
This is the first time I've really used the internet and all this info is awesome.
This is my first pump and all that's missing is one face plate and what surrounds it, which I guess is the bezels. I'm not sure how many pieces there are and how it attaches. Is it a picture type frame that's held in by the corner pieces? Does anyone have a parts breakdown? I need to know what it really looks like up close.

Thanks for all the information. Thomass