new guy needs advise

[hitandmissman]

New to this site and have some dumb questions.  Where do I learn about cannons?  What size to machine, the material to sue for the barrel, how much powder to use, etc.  I would like to make something that would fire golf balls or something of that size.  I am a novice machinist.  Retired and have made a couple steam engines but looking for something with a little more bang if you get my drift.  Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

[Double D]

Novice machinst...made a couple of steam engines.  I think we might be ready to learn from you. 

Suggest you visit the sticky post at the top of the board. Safe load and cannon plans and References would be a good place to start.  You will find a lot of stuff there that cam from the members here.

If you have a question post it here.  You will get all the help you can ask for. And some you did't.  So pull up a chair and start typeing, and welcome!

[Cat Whisperer]

WELCOME to the board!

What's your pleasure?  What style of cannon or mortar is on the top of your priority list?

[Victor3]

 You might want to start out with a nice little golf ball mortar similar to what Double D has in his avatar there.

 Unless you have access to a fairly large lathe and tooling to make a deep hole, a long cannon barrel with a golf ball bore might be difficult to make. However, you can make one from seamless tubing and plug the end if you use a safe design and have the equipment and ability to do so.

 You can also buy a barrel already made, then concentrate on making a mount for it. Many mounts for small - medium bore cannons/mortars can be made without heavy equipment or materials.

 When making from scratch, it all depends on what your skills are, what equipment/materials you have available and how much time you are willing to invest.

 I've made cannons/mortars from scratch, bought barrels and made mounts for them, and bought ready-made guns or kits. In recent years I've have more money than time, so I buy more than I build. When I retire (Lord willing and the creek don't rise), it will probably be the other way 'round.

 If you decide to buy a barrel, please take a look at the vendors here. There are some makers that offer very good barrels at reasonable prices.

 I bought this small mortar recently, and it's just as much fun as any larger cannon or mortar I've ever had. No hernia required to get it into action either...

[Will Bison]

Hey, welcome aboard.

The stickies should keep you busy for a few days and then get a copy of Switlicks book from South Bend Replicas or direct from Matt Switlick. This site is by far the most active cannon site on the internet.

Bill

[jeeper1]

This site is by far the most active cannon site on the internet.

There are others?

[Terry C.]

Golfball mortars aren't difficult to build. If you've built steam engines you should have no trouble at all.

And GB mortars are well within the capacities of most average-sized shop lathes. Boring a deep hole for a cannon is beyond the capabilities of the lathe we have where I work, but mortars are no problem.

The only real critical dimension is the bore, and that's easy to measure. You'll want that to be straight, on-size, with a good smooth (easy to clean) finish.

The chamber needs a good internal finish and a nice round bottom, but it's dimensions aren't super-critical (which is good because it's hard to measure a chamber to the thousandth of an inch).

Drilling the the vent takes some care, most vents are angled and it takes some careful setup to make sure it breaks through where it should.

Otherwise the tolerances are pretty loose, unless you are building a museum piece. Design is most important. A good, safe design will lend itself to ease of machining.

A mortar built for fun should be fun to build.

[lance]

 hitandmissman, just wanted to say WELCOME!!!

[hitandmissman]

Thank you all for the replies.  I am a civil war buff of sorts, so will want a mortar along those lines when I do start to build one.  Looks like I have a lot to look over here before I start tho.  Thanks again.

[MikeR C]

hitandmissman ,
I have about the same background as you, steam and other engines:



My suggestion would be to decide on a projectile, bb, .25 slingshot ball, golfb all, pop can, billiard ball, bowling ball, or whatever. This site has plans already drawn to accommodate popular sized projectiles, and if you follow the plans and keep in mind the "wall thickness equals powder chamber diameter", you will end up with a cannon that won't blow up on you.
Listen to what the other members here have to say, they will help if they can and this board is VERY well moderated.
If you add researching of the history of the guns on top of building them, you will have a lot of fun. There IS a lot of satisfaction to seeing that engine running for the first time, but, there is JUST as much fun lighting that fuse the first time as well!



That cannon has a .177 bore with a pot metal toy carriage!

I wish you the best,
MikeR C