I'm making lots of progress on the Sikh standing mortar. I got the wrought iron hardware shaped tonight to go over the cheeks. I used 3.75" x 3/8" wrought iron from some old wagon wheels from the 1800's. I first made a small piece from 16ga steel strip and bent it to the proper contour, then marked it. I straightened it out then transfered the length to the wheel and cut all my pieces. I already had made some rings for a 2 1/4" dia project that got scrapped, so the trunnion retainer section was pretty easy...just cut them in half and bend in slightly!
Here's some neat pics from the process
Fist is step one...heating the section. It took 30 minutes to shape the first one since I couldn't fit the whole thing in the small forge and I didn't feel like firing up the big one (way to hot out for that!). I learned on the second one that if I heat one end, then turn it around and heat the other end, it will heat the center to red faster and bends perfect in only two heats! Anyway...on to the pics. The first is just a pic of the rear of my shop. That's about 300 lbs of assorted wrought sections staked in front of 2300 lbs of red iron oxide (for a Viking smelting project). The big 50" wheels are what I used for this. The second pic is heating the section, then curving the section. Getting a smooth curve when only using a vise takes a bit of practice...especially on big hunks of steel like this. You have to push into it as well as bending down...all the while taking care not to bump the red glowing stuff!
Next comes more heating, more bending, a little swearing, then a little hammering. I do the bends first, then hammer the ends straight/flat, then go back and tweak the bends if needed when it is down to about 700-800*F (black, but vey hot and still malleable).
Here they are laying next to a cheek ready to be welded up. Wrought iron welds up nicely. I guess if I really wanted to go at it, I'd forge weld it. Hah...I'll pass on that one.
Here's the barrel finished now. I feel like a giddy schoolgirl everytime I walk out and see it sitting in the shop floor! I'm dying to get the carraige finished. I didn't have a can of powder handy, so I used a spraypaint can. Click on the first one for the big pic.
I could have just used some steel strip from the store, but I like using the wrought iron and the forges. I collect wrought iron for the silica patterning in it. It makes great knife fittings when etched. This wrought has very little figuring. Every now and then you get refined wrought in wheels. It's great stuff for forging!
