new bronze

[RocklockI]

Yikes   Kabar2s Moose song is ......well .
Spud , get ready to check your IM .

A couple of people have seen the hat you gave me .......... I tellem " OH Heck YEA Maine Potatoes are the best !" Just the other day at the vets I noticed a line of pricy dog food the main ingredent was potates .

There was ,potatos and venision , potates and whitefish , spuds and rabbit , taters and cats....
just kidding on the last one 

They are good potatoes ......right Tim ?

The trick is in getting the ingredient while letting him live ! you sneak up on one at night being carefull not to spook the gaggle of meice (plural) find one that is snoring away and put a paw into a bowl of warm water ......wait 1.5 mins .

pick an egress route low crawl outta there post hast with your camal back full of the precious ingredeant .



 

[KABAR2]

Yes I can see it now...........(Gary) "Mike.... Tracy.... hold my beer...... 

 

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[dan610324]

hey kabar

whats the meaning of the latin line at the bottom ??

[RocklockI]

Here is the center section between trunions cleaning up . Another day of polishing the center , a day on the trunions then the breech ring and cascabelle ......

[KABAR2]

hey kabar

whats the meaning of the latin line at the bottom ??

I was wondering how long it would take before someone asked....  I was expecting Sir Richard to catch that.....

It is a very early formular for black powder Roughly translated it says:


"take saltpetre and young hazelwood (charcoal) and sulphur and with such a mixture you can make thunder and lightning"


Gary,

The M1838 is looking Great!
 

[dan610324]

sal petrae and suphuris , it should have been obvious just if I had been thinking a little 
but its easier to ask for the ansver than do the thinking by yourself   
the homo sapiens is a lazy race

ok gary
so when its finished including the buffing you got 3-4 full working days approximately only on the polishing
plus all costs for the use of seacosts machines and tools , dont forget the travelling expenses 
ok its fun to build cannons , but not that fun that you can pay for it to do it
please dont take it as a bad criticism , its just a small reminder that you need to cover your costs and try to get a reasonable amount for your labour
I know you dont do this for the profit , but please be sure that you cover all your expences at least

there is hundreds of expences , some large and some small .
a dollar here and a dollar there , but in the end all those small expences will accumulate to quite a lot .

one day or another you realize that you need to invest if you are going to continue , mike and tracy maybe stop making cannons and start collecting stamps for example and sell all their machines
or their shop maybe burn down , anything can happened

[RocklockI]

Dan , I "was not " doing this for profit and believe me I met my goal !  

i'm laughing so hard im about to start crying  ..... I need a stretch goal !

I mean I blew good ship "not for profit" clean off the ocean ! Deep ,wide and blue ! It maybe two oceans away now ....... but it is sinking for sure as the "Not for Profit" has no hull .

Dan some guys can sure tellem !  DUDE youre a master ! I swallowed hook line and sinker

"50 dollar cannon here , HEY ANYONE WANT TO LEARN  HOW TO MAKE A 50 DOLLAR CANNON ??"

I will do them now "For" profit ......or just for me ......

Its the truth that these just are not to be an everymans cannon . I dont think they ever were .

Gary

[dan610324]

high class art have never been cheap , and there is a reason to that .
its expensive to produce

[GGaskill]

After I cast my first mountain  howitzer, I sat down and figured out what the selling price should be so that I wasn't earning $3 an hour for making them, and I decided that about $2500 would be a good number, and that didn't include any profit over my hourly rate.

These things take a lot of labor (and a mountain howitzer can be almost completely done on a lathe) and an honest price reflects that.

[Cat Whisperer]

Would you consider $4 an hour now?

 

[Zulu]

After I cast my first mountain  howitzer, I sat down and figured out what the selling price should be so that I wasn't earning $3 an hour for making them, and I decided that about $2500 would be a good number, and that didn't include any profit over my hourly rate.

These things take a lot of labor (and a mountain howitzer can be almost completely done on a lathe) and an honest price reflects that.

That has been my problem for a long time.  When I finish a project and figure I have 30 or 40 hours in it, it becomes hard to let it go for $400.  Some folks are willing to pay for quality. 
Try buying it at Walmart.
Zulu

[RocklockI]

So I took the day off from tatergun , I sat and stared at my half finished howie carriage . and figured out some more of how the thing will come together .



here it is locked


and unlocked


here is the working drawing


The carriage is a "grasshopper type" and the howie will be able to come "unlocked" from the carriage for use as a sled on the ground , in mortar bombardment mode ,as not to batter the wheeled carriage .


I'm bored and this is what i did today .

Gary

[wolff]

Gary,

Holy cow!  Excellent job of wax carving - for a new or seasoned artisan!  Say, perhaps this was answered prior, isn't that a fairy standing at the base of your mortar?  (it's funny how most people think fairies are "nice", even though Tinkerbell tried to axe Wendy no less than 3 times!).

Oh, what color wax did you use?

wolff

[RocklockI]

Thank you wolff , the wax is a brown art type wax . You may have seen this gun in wax and it was green .
It was wax # 2 and hadnt discovered the art wax yet .

A fairly ....? funny you mention Tinker Bell as my first bronze (that got finished) is a small cracker gun named "Smee" Smee was Hooks right hand man !

Gary

[wolff]

T....? funny you mention Tinker Bell as my first bronze (that got finished) is a small cracker gun named "Smee" Smee was Hooks right hand man !

Gary

I've long since given up trying to understand how my intuitive process works...just glad it does, as I use it daily in my work.

So, the design at the bottom of the mortar you're holding in your hand isn't a fairie?  Man, at first I thought it might be a flower with stem, but I don't even have to squint my eyes to see a shapely little fairie standing with her wings outstretched...I can even make out a face and perhaps horns, or antennae-type thingies on top of her head!  i need glasses...

[Double D]

I had to go way back to the first page of this post to figure out huh!

[wolff]

I just showed Mrs. Wolff that picture, and her young eyes also see a cute little faerie

[RocklockI]

Thanks DD ...I was lost there a a bit !
Why YES it is a fairy ! Good eye ! Even I didnt know it was a fairy .....

A scotish freind of mine says they put fairies and little inpish things on their cannons because it reminds them to shave their legs .

And Today His English team will be wearing little sisy shorts and trying to beat america in the Myan head rolling game .

He said they learned it from the english as wisdom and knowledge flowed to the ignorant north .

[carronader]

you yanks better win.................you've no idea how boring the English get when their damn football team win something.  1966 last time they won world cup............and it's still of huge imprtance..........to them....for us , is one big yawn.    and it's a pixie on the Howie...nasty little beggars with short legs,,,,,,,,and a liking for Hawaii- five-o  shorts.

[KABAR2]

And here I thought the Mortar was looking a little confused with a dedication

 to Louie the Sun King between the dolphins and a German Edelweiss for the touch hole....
 

[Double D]

Tell those guys playing the real Worlds cup in NZ next year they are wearing sissy shorts...I think the Springboks will prevail.

Pixie's and imps are supposed to be related.  Thinking about their character, seems appropriate that one appears on a mortar.

[RocklockI]

Listen I've had a crush on Tinker Bell since I can remember . 

You guys have pretty much reduced my little fantasys of her to some Dominatrik thing off the rails on some crazy train .

Thanks  .... I can live with that ok , just have to rearange the good pixes with the ...

really good ones .     Think Tinker Bell with a whip 

Next one of you guys is going to dig  up some dirt on Mary Ann or Jeannie ....just keep it to yourself .

Now I really got a crush on her ! Come on Tinker let us seek our entertainment elsewhere  .... and bring your bell .

[carronader]

I dreamed of her too..............and JR never even kissed her.............macho super hero    huh!

[RocklockI]

Here is todays work .



working the base ring area and cascabell .



here are some tools ,needle files , sand paper that little oil bottle is full of elbow grease .

[Ex 49'er]

Them's some mighty fine pics you're taking there, Gary. Are those from your new camera? Greatly finesome pics of the bronzez, too.
Look forward to more pics of your endeavors.

[RocklockI]

yes them is some fine pics ! They are all from my new camera .

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

What's taters, precious? What's taters, eh?
Po-tay-toes. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew...

The potatoe gun is coming along nicely.  I hope Tim is stocking up on hairspray!

Polishing the trunnions and between them definitely seems like a tedious task.  I'm glad you're doing it instead of me!

I wrote up a response to you before, when people were commenting on the finish options, but it got deleted when I accidentally hit the back button on my mouse.  I won't retype it, but I do agree with Dan, that bronze is one of those materials that takes care of itself.  I wouldn't want to have any sealant on it other than the natural (or unnatural) patina that comes from oxidizing bronze - which is what finishes like the one that Douglas used on the SAMCC barrel does (looks great on that barrel, BTW.).  I do think that polishing it up as good as possible initially is well worth the effort, because otherwise it would never look like a finished barrel.  Even if you like it looking aged, it must be aged from "as new/original" condition.

I'm looking forward to seeing that carriage finished up!  The Howie is just begging for some action!

[RocklockI]

As issued is what I'm striving for . The finish options are few now , there will be a disernable differance from between the centers and the rest of the barrel . I wish it were not so but it is ,as nearly every barrel I've seen has this differance .

It is just a differance between the cyilindercal marks on the chase and breech end of the barrel and the cross hatching nessesary on the trunioun section .

Have you shot your Morko Gulfcoast ?

I'm looking foward to seeing pics and hearing stories of a "man with beer" trip into the swamps to gather gator .

Not the skinny little wanderabouts I see the police drag out from under a house on Cops , but a big fat momma gator .

We will need photos to ensure integrity ,and that all international fairchase rules were abided by ,and that YOU actually shot the 13 foot plus foot gator with Morko .

Think of the fame ,the succsess ,songs will be sung in your honor . ......

babies will be named Gulf Coast Johnson and stuff  .

on the other hand your Morko could go missing for 300 years + , you'll be dead and I'll be pissed , BUT

.......... what will some hillbilly think when he dredges that thing up from a swamp in 300 years ?  

I know ...."lets hunt Gator"  

Gary

[Double D]

   I won't retype it, but I do agree with Dan, that bronze is one of those materials that takes care of itself.  I wouldn't want to have any sealant on it other than the natural (or unnatural) patina that comes from oxidizing bronze - which is what finishes like the one that Douglas used on the SAMCC barrel does (looks great on that barrel, BTW.). 

Reference Bronze, I couldn't agree more...but brass SAMCC barrel is yucky brassy colored and needs help.

Only two more post in this thread to reach 300.

[Ex 49'er]

Do cannons make smoke and fire with 300 posts? Or is it just 300, 301, 302, etc?