I got one!

[hotfxr]

Pilgrim is right, the pictures do not do it justice. I would have thought that your cannon was much smaller than that. Mine is going to be almost exactly the same size with the same bore. That 1 3/4" bore is perfect for shooting a patched golf ball. Why do I keep bringing up the golf ball? Much in the same way that out here if you have a 19" Hawk handle in your truck it is a felony, but put a heavy sharp blade on it and you have a handy camping tool. A golf ball cannon is an educational novelty item for fun and demonstrations while shooting a lead ball makes it subject to all the restrictions of firearms and can get you arrested.     Welcome to my nightmare.   

I have been crazy busy (actually working at my job for once) and have not been able to work on it this week. I am hoping to get the cannon part done before I head off to Iowa around the 20th. The carriage part will have to wait until I get back in July. If anyone has a brilliant idea for coming up with reasonably close to correct wheels for this thing, I am open to suggestions. Remember, cheap is the  watchword.

[pilgrim]

     if I were a Skilled Woodworker,  I would be tempted to make the Hub, spokes and the wooden rim/wheel, then check into a local Blacksmith with a forge to shape and install the steel rim.     

[hotfxr]

     if I were a Skilled Woodworker,  I would be tempted to make the Hub, spokes and the wooden rim/wheel, then check into a local Blacksmith with a forge to shape and install the steel rim.     

Subtle, very subtle. It so happens I have made them before, still have a spoke knife and a couple of very old draw knives around somewhere, even have the steel to make the tire. That takes a long time to hand cut all them spokes, and I am sure old RB is bouncing all over the place waiting for me to get done building this shooting pipe so he can (he hopes) dispatch me into the next plane of existence, claim my cannon and all my other muzzleloaders, and find the map that shows where all the jugs are hid. However, if I cannot find something to cannibalize for the wheel, I will probably make them and RB will just have to wait.
I did have enough time today to make breech plug. Found a piece of 2" round axle shaft. Fit it into my wood lathe and had at it with an angle grinder and worked it down to a snug 1 3/4" diameter and it will be about 3" long. I drilled out a small hollow, kind of like a patent breech (I think) that I will position the vent liner in just because it seems that in all the plans & flyers I have seen, that seems to be the way it is done. I then will pound this into the hind end of the cannon and cut it off flush. Then I will weld it in place, drill out two 1/4" holes all the way through the barrel & plug, hammer in a couple of 1/4" pins, then weld the ends of the pins and clean them up. Then I have a 3/8" round steel plate with a 1/2" threaded hole in the center that will get welded onto the back, covering the end of the barrel and plug. After that, a couple more layers of pipe welded over the entire cannon to build it up to the correct diameter, making sure that any airspace is filled with lead, then some bands for the cheek and accents, then onto a yet to be built rotisserie with an angle grinder to give it that sexy flowing look. Piece of cake, should be done in an hour or so.     


The Breech Plug.

[pilgrim]

     I would NOT worry about RB,         Oklahoma  is entering into their DRY time and RB  wont be allowed to set off a firecracker,  MUCH LESS his Cannon,  for fear of burning down the state of Oklahoma.   

[pilgrim]

      I dont think that Patent breech is a good idea,  unless you plan to load the barrel with it pointing straight up,  the powder will never get where it does the most good.   Also will be problems swabbing out the barrel after every shot.  Could have smoldering in the patent breech when loading the powder.  Your second shot could be your last.

[hotfxr]

It's got to do with the way you load it. There is not supposed to be loose powder down the barrel, it's supposed to be wrapped in foil, but I have to learn more about that part of it. I already welded the breech in place and still plan on dropping the vent liner right into the little hollow I drilled in the plug. It's only about 3/4" deep, but 3/4" diameter tapering down so hopefully I won't have a problem having unburned powder stuck down there. I hate it when that happens.

[Red Badger]

It's got to do with the way you load it. There is not supposed to be loose powder down the barrel, it's supposed to be wrapped in foil, but I have to learn more about that part of it. I already welded the breech in place and still plan on dropping the vent liner right into the little hollow I drilled in the plug. It's only about 3/4" deep, but 3/4" diameter tapering down so hopefully I won't have a problem having unburned powder stuck down there. I hate it when that happens.

Not necessarily...  Mine has been loaded by pouring powder down the barrel while being held up in a near vertical orientation... Although I do plan on using GOEX #1 cannon in pouches with a worm I will be making myself... I have a cannoneer  with 35 years of civil war re-enacting to teach me the finer points.

[hotfxr]

It's got to do with the way you load it. There is not supposed to be loose powder down the barrel, it's supposed to be wrapped in foil, but I have to learn more about that part of it. I already welded the breech in place and still plan on dropping the vent liner right into the little hollow I drilled in the plug. It's only about 3/4" deep, but 3/4" diameter tapering down so hopefully I won't have a problem having unburned powder stuck down there. I hate it when that happens.

Not necessarily...  Mine has been loaded by pouring powder down the barrel while being held up in a near vertical orientation... Although I do plan on using GOEX #1 cannon in pouches with a worm I will be making myself... I have a cannoneer  with 35 years of civil war re-enacting to teach me the finer points.

Well don't be selfish, especially when my very existence is on the line. Send him out here to teach me the finer points so I don't have to learn off the internet. Besides, I know no one out here with a cannon, and whenever I bring it up there is a lot of head shaking and under the breath muttering. If I just don't sleep until this weekend, I might be able to finish the barrel part, at least to the point where I am ready to sandblast it and plum brown it. (Going for the cast iron look, not the cast bronze look, don't'cha know.) When I get back from my sojourn to the badlands of Iowa, I can start on the carriage. Gotta find me a blacksmith type person to make the trunnion clamps, unless I can find some old iron gate hinges to modify. You know, you might have a slim chance in this duel, by the time I get this cannon done, I will be too tired to go through the process of firing it. 

[Red Badger]

Oh and bye the way - the originals did not use foil packets of powder, they poured directly down the barrel until someone came up with a brilliant idea wrap the powder into packets of linen and puncture it with an awl pushed through the touch hole and a dab of powder then poured into the touch hole....  they did not have foil back then

[shoals]

  would like to have written transcript of conversation convincing wife for the need of this, maybe it would work for me too! GREEN WITH ENVY!

[hotfxr]

Oh and bye the way - the originals did not use foil packets of powder, they poured directly down the barrel until someone came up with a brilliant idea wrap the powder into packets of linen and puncture it with an awl pushed through the touch hole and a dab of powder then poured into the touch hole....  they did not have foil back then

"Curses, foiled again!!"    Sorry, but that just had to be said, you know it, I know it, and everyone else knows it. I have only really looked up modern methods and kind of knew that there was no aluminium foil back in those days. I figured they just used zip lock baggies instead.     Take that Red Baron, er I mean Red Badger!

[Red Badger]

Oh and bye the way - the originals did not use foil packets of powder, they poured directly down the barrel until someone came up with a brilliant idea wrap the powder into packets of linen and puncture it with an awl pushed through the touch hole and a dab of powder then poured into the touch hole....  they did not have foil back then

"Curses, foiled again!!"    Sorry, but that just had to be said, you know it, I know it, and everyone else knows it. I have only really looked up modern methods and kind of knew that there was no aluminium foil back in those days. I figured they just used zip lock baggies instead.     Take that Red Baron, er I mean Red Badger!

In the immortal words of the singer... "When will they ever learn.... Oh when will they ever learn....."