Cannon barrel restoration

[rivercat]

Hi All ,
Just thought I would post up some pictures of barrels we have that await restoration at the Fort.
 

 

 

 
From this picture you can see that these were used at some time as traffic bollards as the barrel would have been buried to a certain required level then the bore filled with concrete with a chain eye bolt set in to the concrete. It is a shame that they did this but what you need to remember back in those days that there were more barrels that came from ships which they did not know what to do with hence the recycling in this way.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

[KABAR2]

Is that a Tudor rose & crown I spy on that last cannon?  That should probably be on the top of the list for restoration..... I wish we had piles of old cannon in need of restoration over here.... but we never used them for traffic bollards..... I have seen a few over here buried as part of a fence around a Civil war morial .... but they get touchy about their removal....
I and others would be intrested on how these are restored.... how do you correctly attach new trunnions or Casible to old iron?  If you are able some photo's of the process would help.....

[Frank46]

I just have to ask this question. What's hiding under the blue tarpaulin?. Curious minds want to know. Great photos by the way. Frank

[rivercat]

Is that a Tudor rose & crown I spy on that last cannon?  That should probably be on the top of the list for restoration..... I wish we had piles of old cannon in need of restoration over here.... but we never used them for traffic bollards..... I have seen a few over here buried as part of a fence around a Civil war morial .... but they get touchy about their removal....
I and others would be intrested on how these are restored.... how do you correctly attach new trunnions or Casible to old iron?  If you are able some photo's of the process would help.....

Yes bang on it is a Tudor rose & crown mate.
Well this is one of many on the list for restoration we have about 40no in total that want or need work for them to be displayed properly ranging for the most part carriages which the average cost would be in the region of £4 to 5000 pounds which would include all of the metalwork if we built them all from wood but we are looking at having some garrison carriages made from cast iron some of which we have at the fort already and mounted.
To be honest I have never seen this done with regards to fitting new trunnions as when monies are available we send the barrel away to be done, generally if the barrel has had new trunnions fitted we would not fire it as it would be a bit risky that either damage was done to the barrel or to the carriage if it broke not to mention people getting hurt if something went badly wrong.
Out of the whole collection of barrels we have of various calibres I am guessing that about halve of them would be able to be fired if they were all proofed. Out of the whole lot currently we have about a dozen or so that have been proofed and are fired on a regular basis. If I get the chance I will see if there are any pictures in the archive but in my time down at the fort fort the last 5 to 6 years we have not sent any away for this to be done.

[rivercat]

I just have to ask this question. What's hiding under the blue tarpaulin?. Curious minds want to know. Great photos by the way. Frank

Hi Frank,
It is a modern barrel which I believe is from a tank originally 188mm but I can check if you are interested.

[Frank46]

Rivercat, I've been following all your posts and pics. Really nice work. yes it would be nice to know whats under the tarp. Now having said that don't want to stir up any trouble. One of those old barrels looks like it has a chain sticking out from the muzzle. Chain shot by any chance?. Keep up the good work. Frank

[aboatguy]

Once again you exceed my expectations with some more eye candy.
 
In my opinion you guys are lucky that the tubes were used as traffic bollards, since that contributed to there continued existence. 
 
Thanks again for the great pictures.
 
Mike

[A.Roads]

That they were used as bollards has surely saved them from a worse fate which probably would have seen them lost forever. The chain emerging from one of the muzzles is presumably from a chain barrier pertaining to their life as bollards.
 
With regards adding trunnions, I have seen that done several times when I was on a long term project in Oman, in the middle east, working (playing more like) for a company called Historic Arms, Exhibitions & Forts, run by Dr. Christopher Roads. They welded new trunnions, breech loops, missing parts & in one case the entire chase on by using a type of cast iron welding, I gather that the rods used for welding were quite expensive, not being a metal worker myself I'm not sure of what the issues were that had to be overcome, but I gather it was not that difficult. Some photos follow:
(the bottom photo - added by mistake - making nails to specification for a U.S. No1 limber for a 12pr bronze field howitzer). Not all the damaged guns shown were repaired. 
 The barrels are all angled muzzle down to assist my efforts in emptying them, the large one was fully loaded, double shotted in fact.
 

[A.Roads]

It was deemed desirable to make an early split trail carriage & limber, for that they had to restore a 6pr of appropriate age that was missing its chase. No "before" photo unfortunately. The new section can be determined from the old by the lack of pitting.

[A.Roads]

Some bronze guns were also repaired, one had a large section near the breech blown away, another was missing most of its chase. Trying to get 3-phase power, for the bronze welding process, to the fort where they were established had me perplexed for months, only to find it did exist anyway in the mains box, 20 metres away, - after having been told the nearest source was miles away..... at that point I bypassed "red tape" & took our friendly electrician there for the day to hard wire us.
 
 

[A.Roads]

Minor repairs were also carried out to an uncommon Congreve pattern barrel, the breeching loop & muzzle were damaged & new parts welded in place.
 
 

[steelcharge]

Some really cool photos & info there! Thanks for sharing! It's nice to see that people still care for even the not so well preserved pieces and don't just regard them as scrap iron.

You said one of them was loaded, double shotted, do you remember what it was loaded with? Just 2 solid shots?
I have an odd fascination with double shotting guns, especially if it's a combination of 2 different types of projectiles.

[A.Roads]

You said one of them was loaded, double shotted, do you remember what it was loaded with? Just 2 solid shots?
I have an odd fascination with double shotting guns, especially if it's a combination of 2 different types of projectiles.
 
It was loaded with two 12pr solid shot - just a charge of loose powder (not in a cartridge as was another I unloaded) with two shot above - no wood bottom, no wadding etc. I saw lots of solid shot over there - never saw a shell, but they are rare it seems, even in most places where they were once issued in number - unfortunately......
 
In British service double shotting could include a shell, (or other projectiles), if so it was placed over the shot, not below for obvious reasons. The shell would have a wood bottom (all shells did unless being used as hollow shot or if they were mortar shells) held on by tin straps or rivets - depending on the period in question. Wood bottoms therefore for naval service shells - where double shotting was usual - were fully hollowed out so that the base of the shell made contact, metal to metal, with the top of the shot that lay beneath it. Or else the shot would impact the shell - through the wood bottom - with enough force to potentially break the shell. To hold the wood bottom in place, in the period following the use of tin straps, two small copper rivets were driven into two rivet holes in the shell, sufficiently far enough away from the exact center of the base to where the wood bottom afforded enough thickness to admit & hold a rivet. Whilst for Land service the same shell had just a single larger rivet hole dead center of the base - its wood bottom had enough thickness of wood to enable this, as these were not going to be used for double shotting. Therefore the number & position of rivet hole/s - if present - can identify the nature (Land Service or Sea Service) and, to some extent, the approx manufacture period of a shell. If no rivet holes then the shell predates the introduction of rivets. The fuze hole details are also a key to determining shell type & approximate manufacture dates. This all pertaining to British common shells etc, I know little or nothing about ordnance of other countries.
I hope this makes sense, a shortish description of an involved & fascinating (to me anyway) subject.
Adrian
 

[Zulu]

Adrian,
You and Rivercat have me drooling.  I would do almost anything to have a job like that.  I truley feel that I could be of some good service to an outfit that does that type of work.
Zulu

[Androclese]

To A. Roads : For joining cast iron the rod of choice (back in the 1980's) was a mostly nickel alloy offered by most MFG's . These worked really well in most applications, and made pre-heating, and slow cooling a little less fussy. (but I would still recommend both where practical)  "Skip Bead" welding was a good way to keep heat stresses in check, weld an inch, skip an inch, with an assistant providing a moderate strength peening to the previous bead as it cools.
 There may well be newer, and better materials for the job these days, but the nickel rod always performed well, and is easily machined, or dressed to match its surroundings.
 That is a really nice heading die you showed, I never had a great deal of need to make many nails, its a crushingly boring job anyway. But I have made some for a couple projects, and taught the work to others. (mostly to show them that their present jobs are as bad as they thought)  

[A.Roads]

I would do almost anything to have a job like that
So would I - unfortunately it is not my full time job, just a hobby, & like most very few opportunities to get involved with anything really serious - however I was lucky enough to be able to do that one project full time for just over a year. With short working holiday visits before & since.
 
Thanks Androclese for your descriptions of cast iron welding & nail making - the welding process you describe is what they were doing I believe. I sat & watched the metal worker making nails - it was quite fascinating & he certainlty made it look easy, it always amazed me what this guy could make with a small hearth, some hand tools & a few basic electric tools such as welders, drills & grinders. A lot of it was bolts, hoops, straps etc but there was quite a number of very challenging parts that he made & some bizzare sheet metal work was called for from time to time.

[rivercat]

I would do almost anything to have a job like that
So would I - unfortunately it is not my full time job, just a hobby, & like most very few opportunities to get involved with anything really serious - however I was lucky enough to be able to do that one project full time for just over a year. With sort working holiday visits before & since.
 
Thanks Androclese for your descriptions of cast iron welding & mail making - the welding process you describe is what they were doing I believe. I sat & watched the metal worker making nails - it was quite fascinating & he certainlty made it look easy, it always amazed me what this guy could make with a small hearth, some hand tools & a few basic electric tools such as welders, drills & grinders. A lot of it was bolts, hoops, straps etc but there was quite a number of very challenging parts that he made & some bizzare sheet metal work was called for from time to time.

The same for me I am in construction as a full time job and work weekends at the Fort!
Thanks Adrian for posting these pictures up amazing work that some of these lads do given the time money and expertise.

[KABAR2]

Adrian,
As had been said before nice nail heading equipment back in the 80's I played with black smithing my neigbors hated me because of the coal...... and the smell..... I made some nice rose headed nails once upon a time  but the most usefull header I have found is making common carraige bolts into tire bolts.... always like seeing your work you need to post more of it on the forum...
 
Allen <><