My new tampion

[Santa Dave]

Well the strange looks at lowes finally paid off! (something about a guy on a mobility scooter with long white hair & beard measuring everything in sight with a set of dial calipers, I guess)
But with my cannon on the porch I wanted a tampion in the muzzle! (to keep out "things")
But I found it!

It's a  solid brass sink stopper(well part of one, and I epoxyed it to a 1" pvc cap (1.687 bore cannon) It even comes with a neoprene gasket to make sure those eagles & two by fours don't get in there!
I think it looks great against Wes's work!
Dave

[Rickk]

I remember a similiar shopping trip to an Ace Hardware Store when I made mine.

One of the sales guys (who usually can't be found when you need him) asked me if he could help me. I had no clue what to tell him. I told him... nope... "all set" and wandered thru every department in the store for an hour with a tape measure in my hand.

They had a variety of turned wood parts for making toys and such. I found a 5 inch diameter flat wooden disk, a 2 inch diameter ball with a flat spot on one end, and ... like you... a pvc pipe cap. Mine mighta been 1  1/4 or 1 1/2... I forget. I painted the wood olive drap and put a stainless steel drywal screw thru the whole thing to hold it together. I think I put less than 10 minutes into the assembly process, counting waiting for the paint to sorta dry.

It needs to fit tighter, so I need to find some o-rings or something.

I think the ultimate would be to fine a suitable sized rubber cork to use in place of the pvc pipe cap.

[Double D]

I always tell the clerk what I am looking for.  You either get this vague pained look--whattheheck- or ever now and then you get, "here's what I  use in mine"

[Santa Dave]

I have found that the expression on their face when you say "I need this for my cannon" is interesting! even the most bored, burned out employee shows some interest! and most get involved in the search and offer ideas of their own.
A nieghbor came over to ask "who did the brass work?" so at least THEY are looking!
Dave

[Terry C.]

I think the ultimate would be to fine a suitable sized rubber cork to use in place of the pvc pipe cap.

I made this 'temporary' tampion awhile back and never got around to making its replacement:



The rubber 'cork' is a Neoprene stopper for a CAT track roller shaft. The shaft has a hole bored down the center from one end, pressing in the stopper turns this hollow cavity into an oil reservoir. The oil is pumped in through a hole in the center of the stopper, which is sealed with a ¼" diameter plastic plug.


The stopper I used has a max O.D. about 1/16" larger than the bore. It will get nice and tight about 3/16" from the big end. It can't go in too far, it would have to be pressed (or hammered) in to go flush.

The knob is a wooden drawer pull from Lowe's. I had to use a longer screw, which goes through the existing hole in the rubber stopper.

[Rickk]

I found a rubber stopper... It seems I knew where to get one all along and didn't realize it.

If anyone wants to make a "rubber stopper" tampion, and can't find one big enough, contact theses guys :

http://www.beer-winemaking.com/

They are a local (to me) homebrew supply shop and they carry stoppers going up to around 3 inches or so. They carry both drilled and plain versions, They do internet and phone orders.

Ask for Mark or Michael, tell them some guy with llamas sent you and be sure to tell them what you need the stopper for... they will be amused I'm sure.

[Tropico]

I will usually make a Tompion about 1/4" short of the bore length so that it is a ramrod from a dowel 1/8" narrower in diameter than the bore. I will screw in a long course threaded screw then cut the head off leaving aprox 1" of thread exposed. Then drill a pilot hole fill it with glue and screw on the wooden ball and make sure there is glue exposed between the wood as well. Afterwords I will paint the Tompion Red aswell as the rod length up to where the finished load will be. I use the paint as a packing guide (Keeps my loads the same). This is then the tool I use to make my pre-loads with foil. This method aloows me to knock out manufacturing preloads fast., as well as to load fast when we are able to get out and play. The fun part is if you have a few differant cannons of the same bore!!!

[Rickk]

Tropico, your using your dictator mortar for a pencil holder, arn't you ?   


I e-mailed my friends at the beer supply store and asked them to put diameter info on their rubber stopper page (in case you don't know that a 2.25 inch gun might take either an 11 or an 11.5 stopper size, etc). BTW, I ordered one of both an 11 and a 11.5 and I'll let you know which works best when they arrive.

In the mean time, I found a chart at stopper manufacturer at
 http://www.hawthornerubber.com/stoppers.html .

[Tropico]

Tropico, your using your dictator mortar for a pencil holder, arn't you ?   

  Busted 
Yes...., I cant help it., I like  it on the desk where I can see it.

[Rickk]

Here is mine, made with a size 11.5 stopper that I got from the homebrew supply store. My bore is 2.25 ". When I first tried it, it seemed a bit too big and didn't want to fit in completely. However, after I cleaned my gun I sprayed the bore with some BP Blaster oil and the lube let it pop right in.

If you order some stoppers, best to get one size bigger and one size smaller as well, just to make sure that you have what you need. But remember that the right one will be a bit too big at first, untill you oil it.

The wood is a disk and a ball obtained from the hobby section of the local hardware store

[Evil Dog]

I've always kinda liked mine.

[Rickk]

If you spray a rubber stopper with oil and it goes in deeper, when the oil leaves the stopper it will not want to come out. If you spray a bit more oil under the tampion cover and it reaches the stopper, it will come out again in a few minutes.

I guess that means that it fits real tight.... annoying and good all at the same time.

[Double D]

Becareful with tampions, especially those that seal the bore. Tampions are intend to to keep debris out of the bore like road dust and sea spray and cigarette butts. 

Be sure your bore is completly dry and room temperature.  Tampions trap air and don't allow circualtion which can lead to rust and corrosion.

[Kansas Boomer]

Go JHawk

[Double D]

Jayhawk Tampion!!! Neat!!!

I have a tampion sorta , also.

[BillinOregon]

Double D: IT hasn't taken you long to get settled in the Big Sky state!

[RocklockI]

  i get some odd looks at Lowes and others when I wander around for an hour or so throwing calipers over stuff .

Thats a good catch . Brass is good ....umOK