Badger Busting Cannon

[hotfxr]

It is looking good!  Why not take a day and go to the local library where you will find a thing called a book which will have detailed instructions on how wheels were made.... 

Books? Library? What are those? Oh yeah, I remember them from high school. Out here when the libraries are open the few days they are, they are filled with our ever increasing homeless population become quite odoriferous, plus this being California, any and all books pertaining to anything that goes boom are locked up and you have to go through a background check to look at them in a caged room.
Seriously, I would have no real problem finding out exact specs and so forth, I am just trying to figure out how to make components that look correct but living with the limitations of my tools and skills.

[hotfxr]

Just in case RB is getting complacent thinking I am never going to get this cannon to rain cannonballs upon him, rest assured that I am ever vigilant and always working on it. Now the body is complete and work has started on the carriage.



Some paint and a coat of bed liner to give it that good old cast iron look.



And work on the carriage. All spokes are cut, hubs are turned and just need to be drilled out, then it is down to cutting out the outside wood pieces.





Getting closer to a rolling cannon but for now I am having too much fun having it mounted in the back of the truck and driving around the county.

[hotfxr]

And to quiet down the naysayers ( RB, are your ears burning) who say that it looks great, but will it shoot? Well here is a special treat for you that should have RB shaking is his size 16 boots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKzjQwJ5w7U&edit=vd

When shooting a projectile I plan on using 2 ounces of 1F cannon powder. Since I don't have any, I used 1/2 ounce of 3FFF that I have here, wrapped in foil pouches. Ans I used no backing whatsoever, just the foil pouch. Rammed in the pouch, poked it with the gimlet (Although why I need a cocktail to shoot a cannon is beyond me) stuck in a fuse and lit it. Later this week I am taking it in it's red truck foundation to a vineyard up the road a (good) ways and we eill try it out with a projectile to start finding it's range. More reports as they happen.

[pilgrim]

     very nice hotfxr.  only thing needed now is elevation blocks or an elevation screw.  and some sort of sighting mechanism as used in the old days to figure range and elevation.   

     Do you intend to proof the barrel?   If so,  I would take it off the truck bed and place the platform on the ground to keep the truck safe,  just in case.   don't want to light off the trucks gas tank.

      Hark,  what is that knocking sound...........................................Oh............................Red Badgers knees knocking

     Thumbs up hotfxr,  I can't get the smilies to post with this damned windows 10.

[graybear]

Remember, when making your wheels, they should be circular. Triangular or square won't roll worth a hoot. Even octagonal rolls extremely rough. Also check your local laws. In California, wooden wheels even with metal tires, might not be consideredlawfu due to environmental concerns. BTW, lookin' gnarly dude.

[Hawken50]

   You are showin some real talent there bub. Cant wait to see her finished. Have ya thought of a name for the little gal yet?

[hotfxr]

  You are showin some real talent there bub. Cant wait to see her finished. Have ya thought of a name for the little gal yet?

It was named awhile ago but modified a bit. At this point in time it is "Bruce, Badger Buster of the Wild Frontier". If it needs a feminine modifier, then it can only be "Bridget" since that seems to be the perfect muliebrous name for a cannon.

[beowulf]

them badgers is dangerous critters , ye might need a bigger gun ! somethin along the lines o this !

[hotfxr]

And onward we go. The one thing that was holding me back was building the wheels for the carriage. This is something I haven't actually ever done, making a working wheel. After a lot of head scratching I just jumped into it, making up a cool jig for a router to cut the circle parts out. The hubs are maple, spokes are oak, and the rings are poplar. I know, poplar is too soft, but I had enough of it to do the job and I'm not really planning on hitching this beast up to a horse and towing it 150 miles through undeveloped wilderness, so I am not that worried about longevity or breakage. The tires will still be steel anyway. Without further ado, the beginnings of the half scale #1 field carriage.













Before you ask, I am building the wheels one at a time and one is painted while the other is not. Besides, now it will confuse any witnesses who happen to be spying on the project.

[Red Badger]

This is looking very nice - and although I am not in the slightest worried about my own personal safety because although you have proven concept you still need to consider that my mere presence tends to change the laws of Physics so any projectile fired at me either disintegrates, changes direction, or just flat bounces off me.  I will say that after I have decimated you I will be honored to bring that beast home and put it on display in my front yard.

   

[Hawken50]

   Keep up the schooling Badger. Hotfxr is like ol Gus In Lonesome Dove...... He wants the chance to shoot at an edgucated man one time......lol   

[hotfxr]

Schooling? I shall school Mr. Badger in the art of having cannonballs raining down upon his head. I was busy this weekend, working like a furious beaver who waited to build his dam until December and made some progress.

Got some paint on the carriage frame.



Made new cheeks out of some real wood and started machining them.



Got the cheeks mostly banded, right now it's more of a template than a finished product.



Well, I still have a ways to go.... Make the trunnion caps, make the elevation screw, figure out what all those chains and bolts are for in the pictures I've been looking at to make this in the first place and figuring out what I need and what is just superfluous extra bling that I will never use. But now it is a cannon!
Meet "Bruce, Badger Blaster of the Wild Frontier" on it's way to terminating a certain rouge colored burrowing varmint from Oklahoma! 







I actually have to work this week, so further progress might be slower than I would like, but until we get some rain there aren't too many places I can shoot this beast with a full load and a projectile. Hmmm, It's going to be tough for RB to explain how he was done in by cannon fired golf balls from at least one county over.   

[beowulf]

  looking good so far !

[zimmerstutzen]

Buddy and I went with our wives to the local rennaisance fair, we saw a small catapult, which he remarked was similar in size to my cannon.  After a mead or two, we began wondering is there is a possible projectile similar to a water balloon to fire at each other. We may have to settle for catapults but the idea of a water balloon mortar duel seems like fun.

[pilgrim]

      That is a beautiful cannon.  when will you be taking  orders for them.  Would love to lob a few golf balls at the groundhogs that raid my garden.     You can always build them if you regular line of work slows too much.