Lay person question about gongs

[JamesRiley]

I have several steel ore crushers of different configurations and sizes, up to 1,300 pounds. When empty, sitting on the ground, they have a very nice ring to them when I hit them with a rail road tie or other large wooden object. They are like a giant bowl with a wide mouth and a small (six, eight or ten inches in diameter) hole in the bottom. I’m thinking about making some kind of artistic gong out of them.

Now, as a lay person, I assume that to achieve the best possible sound from these I would somehow magically suspend them in the air with no grounding. Since that is really kind of impossible, my questions are these:

What suspension material would be best? Wood, rubber, steel, etc.?

Would I want the smallest contact points possible between the crushers and the chosen suspension material?

Should they hang, like from a chain attached to the suspension material, or should they be fixed?

I appreciate any insight into these questions and any other comments you all might provide.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fredt]

Best to hang them on a chain to minimise damping effects.

 

[electricpete]

If you have a clue of the modeshape, try supporting them near a node.

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(2B)+(2B)' ?