Thanks, Allen, we pretty much think that way too. Even when we did have the money, we still did not plunk it down for a modern CNC lathe or mill. We like figuring out the various machine and part set-ups we have to do, and, if you are doing a short production run on a part, like we are with only 25 pieces, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. You fairly quickly reach the end of that run. Hundreds or thousands, forget it!! We have served our time in aircraft factories!
Double D., you are correct, we do like a brew or maybe two after a shoot, but we are sad to hear that the quality of the grain may be affected, especially if cut before dry and then dried briefly on the ground before harvesting. Is this an unlikely possibility or what? Does the farmer get as much money for this grain?
Dan, Mike and I have sampled some of your superb Sherry. I bet you make an excellent Swedish apple wine as well. Exports of such products are always appreciated by thirsty Americans! To be completely honest, we drink a lot more beer, however.
We finally got a chance to get a Krupp down to the plater. The results exceeded our expectations which were pretty high. The entire gun displays a nice even and complete black lustrous finish, Not Shiny, but more of a satin finish. The plater's co-owner put it best, "You guys don't need any polishing on this gun, it looks great as machined!" We agree, it does! Mike dialed in a slightly slower feed when crossing those longer stretches, like on the breech and the outer reinforce, to get a better finish. Although it took a little longer to machine each tube, the results are worth the extra time.
The results the plater achieved on the cheeks really blew us away. In my mind's eye I had a picture of what the Krupp cast steel armor plate must have looked like. Remember, as early as 1861, his factories were turning out large steel parts, not wrought-iron, like the British and the Americans. By 1866, the Krupp Howitzer's model year, Krupp factories were making steel armor plates larger than the cheeks of the original 14" Krupp Seacoast Howitzer. The mottled appearance of this steel is unique and completely different than smooth, light grey, wrought-iron plates. I believe that the action of the acetic acid that we used for hot-rolled steel scale removal, etched the surface in such a way that the plater's application of the Black Oxide finish highlighted some areas more than others, producing a mottled, more reflective/less reflective look that Exactly duplicates what I imagined the Krupp steel howitzer cheeks to look like. It even surprised Mike too. He said, "Wow, how did we do that?" Once in a great while, you have a little luck! Hope you guys like it as much as we do.
Our calendar photo is shown below and it shows the cheeks clearly and you can see the effect we have just explained.
Mike and Tracy
Krupp Seacoast Howitzer M-1866 by Seacoast Artillery Company
