It’s taken me forever to find the time to write this letter but last July my son, Dakota, and I were lucky enough to go to Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit some cannon builders. We visited Keith Frederickson (who has made both 8 and 10 inch 1861 style mortars) and the Paulson Brothers (who not only have had 8 and 10 inch mortars made for them, but also have had two 13 inch mortars made, not to mention seeing the huge collection of other cannons they own!). Someday, I hope to own and/or build a 10 inch mortar and I figured these guys would know more than just about anyone about how to make these mortars and I wasn’t disappointed.
Our first visit was to the Frederickson’s, and I’ll focus on them in this story. I learned a heck of a lot by visiting with Keith. Keith started out many years ago as a county lineman of some sort and after retiring he went into the machining business which he is the master of. He’s got a shop that makes Home Depot look skimpy. You couldn’t find a friendlier and more mechanically inclined fellow than Keith Frederickson. I don’t think there is anything this fellow couldn’t do with metal. He has an unbelievable shop including two huge vertical lathes with chucks that are as big as a picnic table. I think one was around 35 inches and the other over 40 inches!! There were many other horizontal lathes and milling machines scattered through out his shop. A machinists’ heaven! Sitting out front in his yard on a heavy duty trailer were his 8 and 10 inch mortars, which were going to Grayling for a shoot the next week. It was there that Freddy (he says all the Frederickson’s are called Freddy) started telling us all about his mortars. I often wondered how these guys up in Minnesota got so interested in mortars being that most of the War Between the States (or the Civil War or the War of Northern aggression depending on how you look at it) action was (mostly) far south of Minnesota. Well, he explained that Minnesota troops had a big part in Gettysburg and other battles and that just 15 miles from his house was the site of the big Indian Uprising of 1862. He explains that you don’t have to have been born on a battlefield to love mortars or any other part of the War. So, how did he get interested in mortars? Well, he was shooting black powder guns when he was 15 and built a beer can mortar back in 1979. The ball kept rolling and the desire for bigger guns grew till they worked up to the “big boys” -- Big Boy is what he calls his 10 inch mortar.
One thing I learned about Keith is that this is a man who not only is a great machinist; he is also a great father. One of the most important things he said, for all of you out there with sons or daughters, is “that if you don’t entertain your kids, someone else will”. Well, Keith got his sons involved in the whole process of not only making the big mortars, but shooting them as well. It became a family affair that would not work unless all cooperated, and they all did.
With 33 years in his machine shop Keith is a self taught man who, as he said, “graduated from the “You Bet University” –i.e. “Can you build it? You bet!!”
So, we started to get into how he made the mortars. Freddy, like me, couldn’t afford to buy an already made mortar and being a machinist he wanted to build one himself. Here is a guy who has the ultimate in machining equipment including multiple vertical lathes, milling machines and two huge vertical lathes, welders and just about anything else you would need for the job. First he did a lot of research into how to make molds etc, etc. He had to make a pattern, a sculpture of the barrel which is essentially the barrel split down the middle. This was roughly 1/8 to ¼ inch over size to allow for the iron shrinkage and one that would hold up to the riggers of very heavy iron casting. This was not an easy job and he visited with at least one pattern maker to figure out how to make it. To make the 10 he then took the cheapest pine he could find and a lot of glue, body putty, screws and elbow grease and sculpted a half side of the mortar barrel (the first one he did for the 8 was the entire barrel) . Lots of things had to go into this pattern including vent releases, adolphs, alignments and other things I don’t fully understand yet. Then they took the pattern to a good foundry. “You have to know what the foundry wants as the pattern is critical in the process. You have to make it right, just the way they need it, as working with the foundry is very important. It’s important to go to a reputable foundry.” The original mortar barrels were cast with 20,000 tensile strength grade iron so Keith doubled that to 40,000, which is twice as strong. Aluminum is around 17,000, cold rolled steel around 60,000. Ductile iron or liners are not necessary on these mortar barrels as they are so thick and strong.
There are apparently two ways to make such a mortar. Frederickson’s way is to cast a rough barrel shape and mill the trunions and bore etc. with their huge equipment. There are other ways to make such a barrel; as it seems Hern Iron Works does it by carefully casting the barrel so minimal milling is required. My understanding at this point is that either way is as good as the other if the foundry knows its stuff.
In making Frederickson’s big 10 inch mortar 3300 pounds of iron (many of which were old John Deere parts) were dumped into the mold. The foundry in North Dakota said “do you want it to be pretty or do you want it strong?”, and Keith said “I’m gonna shoot this with thousands of people watching so it has to be strong”, so they poured in more chromium. The mold leaked a little so 500 more pounds of iron were added. That’s a heck of a lot of iron! Imagine the cost of just the raw iron! You all can attest to the cost of iron better than I can.
Then he took the rough barrel home and lifted it up onto his big lathe with his John Deere tractor. Imagine the fun of lugging around and handling this huge hunk of iron! I think he first turned the trunions on his big lathe and then bored out the barrel and then milled the ratchets. A small portion of the bore was already there but lots of metal had to be bored out to make it 10 inches. He had to fabricate huge clamps to hold the barrel upright on the vertical lathe so it would be exactly centered so it could be bored out true. Then, later, he milled out the ratchets on a milling machine.
Keith’s sons were right there helping him in this process. One of Keith’s sons is a fabricator and he was instrumental in making the carriage, which was no easy feat. Well over 3 years were spent in the process of making the big 10 inch gun!
Freddy shoots his mortars using big zinc balls (he gets them from Paulson Brothers) at many shoots out west and up north and has been featured in a show called “Artillery Games” where they pitted old mortars against modern artillery to compare accuracy. I hear Freddy did very well. The big mortars are so big it takes the whole family to transport and shoot them and that is one of the best parts of this story. The project has bonded the family together and they work as a unit, something that is becoming rare these days, when busy families often drift apart.
Not just a machinist, but also philosopher, Keith has as much wisdom to impart as he has in shop skills. Among his comments: “To build something like this or anything else that pushes you near your skill level you have to get out of your comfort zone. A person who stays in his comfort zone, ain’t gonna get anywhere. You gotta get out of that comfort zone and worry a little. I’m never in a comfort zone, I like the challenge. The best of all angles is, a try-angle, just give it a try”. Well Keith didn’t just try to build his mortars, he did; and they are beautiful pieces, as close to original as I can imagine.
I asked Keith if they ever shoot their mortars down our way like at Ft. Shenandoah, Virginia. He said he didn’t know if the range is long enough as he likes to shoot at least 900 yards to really fire these babies as they should be fired. Is there room for someone to fire a mortar at Fort Shenandoah for 900 yards? I don’t know as I’ve only been there once. So, to see them in action you have to travel up north to Michigan or Wyoming -- too far for my pocket book.
So where does this leave me in my quest for a mortar? Well, I wish Freddy lived next door but he doesn’t! It seems you either have to make a lot of money to own and shoot a big mortar or be lucky like Freddy is and have a shop where you can make your own mortars. I’m no Frederickson by any means but I am very good with tools and I enjoy making things more than about anything else in the world. I would prefer to make a mortar versus just buying one. Being able to make such a mortar would, for me, be the ultimate experience. Could this happen? Do I have the means (big tractor, fork lift) to lift 3000 lb’s of iron onto a big lathe? – No -- Do I have a big lathe and milling machine or access to one etc etc? – No -- Just judging by the size of the vertical lathe (10,000 pounds ?) which is needed to mill a big mortar, I doubt if I can ever get one of those so it seems making one is pretty much out of the question. Could I get Keith to make me one? Well, he says that his first one would cost $20,000 were he to sell it so I’m sure if he was to make a second one it would be way out of my price range also!
I have talked to Hern Iron Works (who have made an
and they said they could possibly make a 10 inch barrel which might cost in the range of 6 to 7 thousand dollars not to mention another 3 thousand for the carriage. Can I afford that? Not at this time. What about Paulson’s 10 incher for $10,500? Same problem, too expensive. So what am I gonna do? Some suggested a smaller mortar like a Coehorn? They don’t interest me at all. Well I saved my money for years and accumulated near $5000 towards a mortar but most of that recently went for car repairs, etc, etc. Maybe I’ll just make look-a-like replicas (non firing) out of 20 inch and 16 inch pipe to look at like the big 13 incher I’m hoping to make some day from my big propane tank. The sport of big mortar canon shooting seems to be for those “in the money”. Anyway, I’ll keep dreaming of owning the real thing and watching for 10 inch mortars to come on e-bay – at an affordable price. Yea, I know, fat chance of that.
I really want to thank Keith “Freddy” Frederickson for showing me his wonderful shop, showing me how he made his mortars, as well as sharing his wisdom. He is an extraordinary individual!!!! If you need any machining, I’m sure he can do it, probably better than most anybody!
Stay tuned, if I get some more free time soon I will tell the story of my visit with the amazing and incredible Paulson Brothers.
I’m also trying to post some photos of Frederickson’s mortars on this site, so look for those.
Scott Springston
