Author Topic: putting the mortar base together (Read 2552 times)

Rickk · « **on:** June 17, 2006, 03:06:46 PM »

The barrel was cheap. Now I am trying to get the mortar base together (before the 4th of july would be nice :-)

Always wanted a good drill press. This project was the justification.... Sears - laser sight even - $350 or so.

Forstner bit set up thru 2 1/8", about $100...while I was at it, I got a new cobalt drill set up to 1/4 inch... $50 bucks.

I have a coffee can full of crappy drills that I can't bare to throw out now that I have this new drill press to use them with. Drill Doctor "750" new on Ebay... another 130 or so.

I start laminating together my 2 to 3 inch thick white oak planks ($40, at the lumber mill down the street - he is into civil war stuff - gave me a good deal) that are finally dry-ish. Need clamps... big ones... those ones that use 3/4 iron pipe to make them as long as you want. There goes another $200 for a ten clamps with pipe.

As long as the credit card is being abused anyway...sprung for a new set of chisels for hogging out the base.... about $25. They had a really nice urethane hammer to bet them with at the hardware store as well... only $30 bucks.

The barrel was fairly cheap... wait... I already said that :-)

Next year a full size naval cannon. Should have enough tools that the whole thing whould cost way less that the mortar.

I guess I am hooked now ... Can't wait for the monthly credit card statement :-)

Evil Dog · « **Reply #1 on:** June 17, 2006, 03:40:09 PM »

My general rule of thumb is that any project will usually cost twice as much and take 3 times as long as I think it will.

Powder keg · « **Reply #2 on:** June 17, 2006, 07:08:33 PM »

Were not going to start braging about who has the most tools now are we? :-D :-D Where do I start........

reddog · « **Reply #3 on:** June 17, 2006, 07:48:58 PM »

Good deal on the drill press rickk. I looked at the sears models myself. Nice stuff. Ive got an old buffalo brand drill press that wont quit! As for your dull drill bits, A grinding wheel and A little practice you can sharpin them up, I do it all the time.

Rickk · « **Reply #4 on:** June 18, 2006, 03:25:42 PM »

When I bought the drill press I thougtht he Laser sight was nothing more than a useless gimick. I am just so used to drilling smaller things at work by just sliding them around under the bit untill the point was where I wanted it to be and then lettin it rip. However, the smallest piece of wood in the laminated stack weighs about 20 #. It is nice to be able to slide it into place with two hands and know that the bit is going to go where the hole needs to be without fine tuning it with one free hand just before bit entry.

Most of the pieces are already pegged/glued together. The barrel channel is about 90% inletted. I screwed up a bit and overchiseled in spots. Since I am going with paint rather than stain, I'll do a little filling with JB Weld to improve the barrel to metal fit.

Here's a pix of the whole thing as of about 10 minutes ago. Clamps are currently my best friend. :-)

I am still trying to figure out how to do the curvy cut on the top ends that seems to be tradition for a mortar base. The best I have come up with so far is to make a few cuts with a Skill saw and then chisel the rest of the way. I am guessing that is the way they would have done it in 1860 anyway (except for the Skill Saw part).

bpsteve · « **Reply #5 on:** June 18, 2006, 04:55:49 PM »

Rick
That is how I got started years ago. Instead of paying someone for a part I bought the tools to make it myself. I still have some of those tools and they are still making parts!
Keep up the good work,
Steve R

GGaskill · « **Reply #6 on:** June 18, 2006, 05:49:14 PM »

I am still trying to figure out how to do the curvy cut on the top ends that seems to be tradition for a mortar base.

Although the armory would probably have had a machine dedicated to making that cut, you can rough it out with four straight cuts and a diagonal cut and then round it off with a small plane.

However, there were three styles. The one you are thinking about, a plain rounded over corner, and a 45° chamfered corner, presumably from cost cutting/speedier production later during the Civil War.

from cwartillery.org

CU_Cannon · « **Reply #7 on:** June 19, 2006, 01:41:07 PM »

I generally start the end profiles by cutting the bulk of the material away with a band saw before gluing. I then use a template it to check the profile during the finish carving. Since you already have your base glued your idea with the skill saw should work. You could adjust your depth to follow the curvature. Use the formula for a circle to find the correct depths for a given interval. This should make carving easer. As far as the inletting of the base is concerned I do it the good old fashioned way with a mallet and chisel. I carve it until it looks good and test fit it. Carve the high spots and test again until I get a good fit.

I find the base the most time consuming part. It in many cases takes longer than machining the barrel.

This is the beer can coehorn I built a while back. The base is red oak carved by hand.

Rickk · « **Reply #8 on:** June 19, 2006, 02:04:11 PM »

thanks for the advice CU_Cannon.

Don't have a bandsaw, so that is out of the question.

Yes, I'm doing the inletting for the barrel the old fashion way. I't isn't that bad. Almost done, with probably about 2 hours into it. There will be some filling with epoxy ... my dad is the carpenter - I'm just a mere electrical engineer. Epoxy is one of my better friends as well :-)

Rickk · « **Reply #9 on:** June 22, 2006, 03:37:46 PM »

I'm finding that Bondo fiberglass resin gel, which is thicker than regular fiberglass resin, sandwitched in with a couple of layers of fiberglass woven cloth, makes a great bedding material to fill in the gap between the barrel and the bed where I took a bit too much wood out.

I ws a bit shy on the hardener to give plenty of working time. It got "sort of hard", but not rock hard in about 45 minutes. Then I removed the barrel and removed the excess that oozed over the top with a rasp. It comes off in this state like clay. By morning it will be harder than the oak.

FYI, I taped up the lower part of the barrel as good as I could with thin plastic packing tape. Then I went over the tape and any surfaces that I missed with a cake of wax. The epoxy had only minor interest in sticking to the barrel when I decided it was time to pull it out. Don't leave it in there all night, as you risk not being able to get it out should there be a spot you missed with the wax.

I filled about 90% of the area needing to be filled on the first shot. I'll touch up a couple of spots I missed tomorrow.

Rickk · « **Reply #10 on:** June 27, 2006, 04:05:19 PM »

everything is painted except for the trunion plates. They were cut with some sort of cutter that can snap thru 3/16 inch thick steel, so the ends are a little distorted.

Gunna have to heat them up and hammer them flat.... then apply paint to them.

I've had to run an electric heater in my shed for a few days now to keep the humidity down and get the paint to dry. It's about 110 degrees F in there at the moment. It has rained here for 40 days and 40 nights... everything is just dripping with water... even indoors.

with a bit of luck it will dry out in time for the 4th of July :-)

Rickk · « **Reply #11 on:** June 28, 2006, 02:16:25 PM »

Test assembly happened tonight. It still needs to have a few bolts cut to length.

I chickened out for now and cut the ends at a 45 degree angle. I guess I can always make it fancier later, but wanted it running for the 4th of July.

Now if the rain would just stop ! I want to stick it out in dry, hot sunshine for at least a day to get the paint to really harden.

jeeper1 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 28, 2006, 03:11:20 PM »

Do you have an electric oven? The lowest setting (about 150f or so) and a partially open door for a couple of hours should do wonders.
Maybe heatlamps with a cardboard box covering everything.

Rickk · « **Reply #13 on:** June 28, 2006, 03:40:36 PM »

Bringing it into the kitchen and sticking it in the oven (if it would fit) would bring on the rath of you-know-who.

I get into enough hot water tracking in mud (we raise llamas.... it's not actually mud).

The forcast for Friday and Saturday is Sunny... before it starts raining again on Sunday. I'll haul it outside and let it have a suntan while I'll adjusting bolt lengths.

Maybe I'll atually shoot it Saturday afternooon/evening :-)

Powder keg · « **Reply #14 on:** June 28, 2006, 05:30:41 PM »

Looks gerat Rick!!! Great Gob!!!

Later, Wes

Rickk · « **Reply #15 on:** June 30, 2006, 08:05:33 AM »

It finally stopped raining.

I put the mortar on my kid's wagon last night ( the wagon tires need more air I think ) and hauled it out into the sunshine this morning to help the paint along.

Now if I can sneak out early I'm gunna start playing sooner than later.

Happy 4th all !!