Grassmayr Bell Foundry leans on 3D printing and digital tools to survive
The 425-year-old Austrian foundry is pairing modern manufacturing methods with centuries-old bronze casting as material costs climbed
Grassmayr Bell Foundry, founded in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1599, has adopted 3D printing, scanning, lasers and computer simulation software to keep its centuries-old bronze-casting business running as material costs rise and demand from churches declines.
The family business is now run by brothers Johannes and Peter Grassmayr, who cast bells weighing several tons for churches across Europe.
“Certain things are just like they were 400 years ago. But we innovated a lot. Especially within the last 20 years, we’ve changed a lot,” Johannes Grassmayr told The Associated Press.
Digital tools cut production time
The foundry’s production cycle for a bell runs three to four months. Cleaning and polishing a freshly cast bell once accounted for 30% of that total production time; with modern tools, the process now takes a tenth of the time, according to the company.
Designing and forming the molds for a large bell can still take up to six months. When a large bell is cast, the liquid bronze generates up to 125 metric tons of pressure inside the mold, Johannes said, so the foundry uses only high-quality clay encased in steel sleeves to withstand that pressure.
Material and labor costs squeeze margins
Bronze, made from 80% copper and 20% tin, has climbed from €8 ($9.20) to €23 ($26.50) per kilogram in recent years, while labor costs have risen 30% since 2020, Johannes said. It’s a shift being felt across multiple industries.
Fewer churches are being built, reducing demand for new bells, though the foundry has restored hundreds of defective bells from 12 European countries.
“That’s why I can’t even say how much a bell is going to cost in a year. I just hope the metal price is going to come down again,” added Johannes.
