1841 Naval Carriage Progress

[Farmer Dean]

Here's some progress pictures on my Model 1841 full size. I've chosen to build a naval carriage, sort of a conglomeration of several carriages. The main feature is the Marsilly style foot in stead of rear wheels. The carriage lumber is 6x6 with a 4x4 axle. I've made all of the steel bolts from 1" hot rolled which I threaded. I've got nearly 20 feet of steel in it. I rounded the axle with a chisel. The wheels are two pieces of 2x12 bolted together. I cut some 'rims' from a 10" diameter well casing, heated them up enough so they'd slip over my wood and then quenched them. I also drilled through the rims in 5 places and lagged  3/8" lag bolts into the wood, then cut them off and welded them in. As I progress my plan is to distress the carriage. I want my piece to look as if it has come off of a shipwreck. Once I get the wood old and beat up enough I will water seal it. My piece will sit and fire from an installation in front of my house, I did not build this to move it off site. I am working on it diligently, I will post my progress.
 

[Div Arty]

     Great pictures.   Like your work with the chisel, no need for a large wood lathe.  Good luck with the project and lets see a better shot of the tube.

             Div Arty

[Santa Dave]

WARNING: Be sure you are sitting down when you price out the shouldered eye-ring bolts for your beautiful wood work!
I priced them out and decided that Even though it LOOKS wrong I'm not going to have them! You might do well to make your own !
Dave
I love what you have done so far!
Keep us up to date! Please

[EL Caz 66]

Mr. Farmer Dean,

Nice work, Keep them Pictures Comin. 

Ed

[Rickk]

I went looking for shouldered ring bolts at lunch time today.

I found the following source

http://www.mercersmarine.com/Search.aspx?CID=352

They are vague on their dimensions... make sure that they are not too long. If you run out of thread, you may have to thread more of the shank yourself. I have no idea how hard that would be on a forged bolt.

[GGaskill]

I have no idea how hard that would be on a forged bolt.

You could always anneal them; not like this is a high stress application.

[lendi]

Farmer Dean,
Great looking carriage.  Can't wait to see the end results.  On the Brass/bronze shoulder eye bolts.  We have used them on all our carriages to date.  Years ago they were made by wilcox crittenden in middletown ct. They closed, and we ran out of our supply.  Were getting them from Tridations in BC.  They were imported from Italy.  They can't get them.  Santa Dave wanted to purchase some from us but we couldn't supply them.  I am in the process of building match plates for 4 size different  ring eye bolts. 1/4  5/16  3/8  1/2 they will have heavy shoulders similar to the old Strong saluting cannons.  We will cast them in yellow brass or most any alloy that you want.  If you are looking for steel eyebolts I use MSC.  They have a good selection plain or galvanized and are made in the USA and you get a 2-3 day turnover. If you look at the 3# British carraige the I recently posted I used the 1/2" eyebolts.  Will post pictures when I get the production pattern parts from the foundry.
Len
Duck Island Cannon Works

[Farmer Dean]

Since I'm trying to make this project look sort of period rustic, I'm making most of the fittings myself - purposely giving it that unfinished look. I made a couple of rings by first torching an uneven back plate out of 1/4" plate and beating it up a bit. I then took a piece of 3/8" rebar and ground the markings off of it leaving me with an earthy looking piece of 3/8 round. I beat it around a pipe to form a ring and then welded it closed. I had some antique hand forged chain laying around and cut a link in half and welded it to the back plate. On the back side I welded a one inch heavy duty nut. I made a one inch diameter, threaded on each end, 'spanner bar' which goes all the way through the sides of the carriage just under the trunnions. I counter sunk the 6x6 to accept the nut on the back of my ring plate. Large washers welded to this spanner bar on the inside on each timber will keep the ring nuts from pulling the two sides of the carriage together and therefore actually are structurally integral to the piece. Add a little rust and it'll be just right. The whole back plate is about 3 1/2" in diameter. Dean
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[Farmer Dean]

I also finished drilling my vent hole (3/16). I made a metal frame to hold the barrel so as to be able to level it in both directions. I have a big forklift (hay squeeze) that I picked the whole thing up with and held it in my shop so I could wheel the drill press up to it. I measured 50 times and then drilled the vent hole with a carbide bit. The PVC pipe in the tube had the end cut (top half, back one foot) so as to catch any filings. For the time being I decided against a removeable liner. If, over time, I notice any vent eroision I will drill out the vent and install a threaded liner. Dean.

[Artilleryman]

Dean, The reason for the vent piece is to provide a continuous passageway.  A gap may open up between the barrel and the barrel sleeve due to corrosion.  This gap can hold an ember which may cause a premature discharge of the piece. 

[Rickk]

Do any of the machinist experts here have an opinion about carbide verses HSS bits for drilling vent holes?

Ya, Carbide last's longer, but they seem to break easier for me. Is that universally true, or is it just me? I bought a high end "Drill Doctor" and it works good, so resharpening drills isn't a big deal either way. 

I do tend to prefer Carbide, but if I am going to drill a deep hole, is HSS less likely to break than a Carbide drill?

I checked with the machine shop in town that has an EDM, and apparently I am still owed enough favors that the 300# barrel coming is still a freebee, but I am just wondering for future reference.

[GGaskill]

No question carbide drills are more brittle than HSS ones.  Most of them seem to be made for drilling abrasive material rather than hardened steel.  I would only use one in steel if I found that I couldn't drill with an HSS one.  Small HSS drills are so cheap that they should be treated as expendable and given the heave-ho after strenuous use.

[Farmer Dean]

Rickk, I started out with HSS and got afraid I would overwork that bit. I took it very slow with the carbide - 5 seconds slight pressure, one second cooling and continually blew the hole with air. I was told use no lubricants. I spent 15 minutes going 2 3/4". I marked my drill gauge and switched to HSS when I drilled the last 1/2" through the steel liner. Dean

[Double D]

Just in case this got lost in the HSS vs Carbide  discussion

Artilleryman said:

"Dean, The reason for the vent piece is to provide a continuous passageway.  A gap may open up between the barrel and the barrel sleeve due to corrosion.  This gap can hold an ember which may cause a premature discharge of the piece. "

This very important and bears repeating.  A vent liner is a vital piece in any cannon with a liner.  You need it from the first  shot. It is not something to do later, later will be too late.