Winter projects

[Double D]

Man I do not need to put a hitch on my Chevelle. Remember Doug them cars got a REAL trunk in them. Speaking of Al I saw him just before he headed back to Cut Bank. Man did he make a killing on buying out the guy in Spokane WA. I would love to go to his shop and use his lathe and mills there. You want to here a good one? He said somthing about retiring. LOL. That is one man that can not, be doing nothing. He wants to see the GB Mortar shoot. MT Golf for him.

I thought I saw Al in  CB today...the  Lathes and Mills are they in Spokane or CB?

[Lee1966]

Man I do not need to put a hitch on my Chevelle. Remember Doug them cars got a REAL trunk in them. Speaking of Al I saw him just before he headed back to Cut Bank. Man did he make a killing on buying out the guy in Spokane WA. I would love to go to his shop and use his lathe and mills there. You want to here a good one? He said somthing about retiring. LOL. That is one man that can not, be doing nothing. He wants to see the GB Mortar shoot. MT Golf for him.

I thought I saw Al in  CB today...the  Lathes and Milld are they in Spokane or CB?

I thought they were there already??

[Double D]

I am going to have corner Al and see how big a lathe he got.  If you see him over there tell him I want toplay with his toys.

[robbob]

Our local technical college is offering two four week courses, Machine Shop Level I and Level II..........  The classes are two nights a week for 4 hours.  I wonder if that is enough to learn how to lathe a cannon barrel.  I've wanted to learn how to work with metal for a while now, even before I got interested in cannons.  We have a Grizzly tool showroom here and I always check out the lathes and mills when I am there and think to myself wouldn't it be neat if I knew how to use this stuff......

The only thing holding me back is the cost.  It would cost about $700 for both classes.  Right now I have funds set aside the metal work on my 1/2 scale 1841 6#, and I still need to buy wheels.....

There is always next winter.

Rob

[Double D]

I would jump on it if I were you.   It will open the door for you and get you started, do it!!  You won't be a master machinist in that time frame but you will be able put chips on the floor!!

[robbob]

I'm still considering it.  Of course if I take the classes then I'd have to go buy some tools so I could practice my skills......I might have to wait till next year......

How big of a cannon could I make with a 9x21 benchtop lathe?

Of course there is always this too....

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combo-Lathe-w-Milling-Attachment/G0516

Rob

[Double D]

I'm still considering it.  Of course if I take the classes then I'd have to go buy some tools so I could practice my skills......I might have to wait till next year......

How big of a cannon could I make with a 9x21 benchtop lathe?

Of course there is always this too....

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combo-Lathe-w-Milling-Attachment/G0516

Rob

Those type of machines tend to be a compromise.  You will be better of and find it more use useful to have a lathe and a  Mill.

[GGaskill]

That would be a fairly good lathe, although you couldn't drill a barrel more than about 9-10" long.  But the mill is VERY light duty; look at the column (the piece that supports the milling head.)  It is not very thick and anything but the lightest cuts would vibrate severely, which is a good way to break your end mills.  I would go for a plain lathe before that machine.

[robbob]

I had also been thinking about this

http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-x-19-Bench-Lathe/G4000

or this

http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-x-22-Bench-Top-Metal-Lathe/G0602

or even this

http://www.grizzly.com/products/11-x-26-Bench-Lathe-w-Gearbox/G9972Z


Wifey would shoot me if I came home with one of these unless I used my allowance.......I'd have to save for a while.

[robbob]

Or maybe I just need to talk to this guy....
http://williamsport.craigslist.org/tls/2094831747.html

His add says "If you're a novice, I will gladly train. "

[Double D]

As a rough guideline consider this; divide the bed length in half and that is the longest cannon barrel you can bore.

This is the one I bought last year.  http://www.grizzly.com/products/Gunsmith-s-Bench-Top-Lathe-with-Stand/G4003G

It's big enough to do gunwork on and build a cannon also.

[robbob]

Very Nice 

[GGaskill]

I think it would be worth both your trouble and your money to take the classes offered at the college.  You might also check with your local "community college" to see if they offer similar classes.  Where I live, the tech college classes were a lot more expensive than the community college classes and no better.

Once you have some first hand experience, you will be better able to make decisions regarding what equipment to purchase.  You may also run into some more serious machinery via class contacts that will better serve your needs and cost less.  While a CNC lathe would be nice, I think it is a little advanced for your knowledge level at this point.  If you can make them work, they can do a lot of things that are a real pain to do on a manual machine, but you need the manual machine experience behind you before tackling a CNC machine.

[Cat Whisperer]

As a rough guideline consider this; divide the bed length in half and that is the longest cannon barrel you can bore.
...

Unless you're good at building a bit of unusual tooling ...  We've seen it done, but it was a bit unorthodox.

[robbob]

I think it would be worth both your trouble and your money to take the classes offered at the college.  You might also check with your local "community college" to see if they offer similar classes.  Where I live, the tech college classes were a lot more expensive than the community college classes and no better.

Once you have some first hand experience, you will be better able to make decisions regarding what equipment to purchase.  You may also run into some more serious machinery via class contacts that will better serve your needs and cost less.  While a CNC lathe would be nice, I think it is a little advanced for your knowledge level at this point.  If you can make them work, they can do a lot of things that are a real pain to do on a manual machine, but you need the manual machine experience behind you before tackling a CNC machine.

Our local technical college used to be the community college years ago.  Then it was bought by Penn State.  They have developed it into a very good technical college.  The classes are "only" $329 each.  they have a huge "lab" (machine shop) with lots of nice tools.  They do also have a CNC "lab" and offer CNC classes too.  I think they call it "Workforce Redevelopment"

I agree completely about the CNC machine.  What I liked about it was that it was not very expensive and the owner said he would teach a novice how to use it.  I really have no idea what I could do with it or let alone have a place to put it.  If I ever do take the classes, I'll probably end up with some type of bench top tools.

[dan610324]

I woulnt recomend a new chinese lathe , try to find an 40-50 year old high quality machine instead .
you can find them cheaper or at the same price as a new chinese lathe

Ive tried a few chinese machines , the quality is extremely low on those cheap hobby machines

as a fresh beginner you might not notice that in the beginning as you not got any experiance from a high quality lathe
but you will regret it in the future
a high quality machine you could sell in 10 years time and have the money back
a chinese machine you would probably almost need to pay for to get rid of it .

try to find a hobby machinist forum and start to ask questions , there you also could find some used quality machines for sale
just remember that the lathe is  NOT  the expensive part to buy
its when you need to buy quality tools that the large costs come .
thats even vorse for the milling machines .

try to buy an as large lathe as you got posibility to have in your work shop .
its easier to make small items on a large lathe than making large items on a small lathe 

[Double D]

Well procrastination time is over, time to start building.  The Wife and I have to be in  Maryland by  March 17.  We will leave here  March 1st and head east.

So, I better get busy and make some  cannons.

Here where I am right now.



I have two K.I.S.S. golf ball mortars that are just about finished.  Metal needs painted and the wood needs sanded and linseed oiled.

I have three rounds cut for Federal  Pattern golf ball coehorns.  I would like to get one done before the trip.

Then there is the K.I.S.S. the can mortar.  I want that done and ready for the trip to  Maryland.

[Rayfan87]

I started working on my new kit today, got it sanded and stained. First coat of poly goes on after work tomorrow. Looks like it'll be done before New Years.

[willdj79]

I decided to up grade my crappy made 2x4 carriage on one of my pop can mortars and build a new oak sled style mortars. I credit Terry C. for great base layout that i was able to borrow in one of his coehorn building treads http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,122717.0.html. I also was browsing around a hardware store and found a nice brass door handle flange that looked like it would finish off the elevation screw mount. I was also wanting to find a handle that wouldn't mar the soft 1018 steel and came across a black round knob that i jam nutted. The Cap square i made out of a 4" piece of round stock that i whittled down with a carbide insert fly cutter, next time i think i will try to form it. 

[willdj79]

I think it would be worth both your trouble and your money to take the classes offered at the college.  You might also check with your local "community college" to see if they offer similar classes.  Where I live, the tech college classes were a lot more expensive than the community college classes and no better.

Once you have some first hand experience, you will be better able to make decisions regarding what equipment to purchase.  You may also run into some more serious machinery via class contacts that will better serve your needs and cost less.  While a CNC lathe would be nice, I think it is a little advanced for your knowledge level at this point.  If you can make them work, they can do a lot of things that are a real pain to do on a manual machine, but you need the manual machine experience behind you before tackling a CNC machine.

Christmas came and gone this year and santa didn't leave me a Romi/ Bridgeport ez path sd under the tree.. Guess i will have to keep sneaking into work late at night to use theirs.. LOL

[Cat Whisperer]

My mortars end up right by the kitchen sink also - right after coming back from the range.  Good thing the sinks are stainless (104 lbs tube and trunion on the 4.55").

Every kitchen should have a good lookin' mortar like yours!   

[willdj79]

My mortars end up right by the kitchen sink also - right after coming back from the range.  Good thing the sinks are stainless (104 lbs tube and trunion on the 4.55").

Every kitchen should have a good lookin' mortar like yours!   

I would have left it there but the wife would probably think it could double as a dish rack.

[Josco]

 Quote "How big of a cannon could I make with a 9x21 benchtop lathe?"

9 or 10 inches long at the most as you need the room to drill the bore. I made my 9 1/2" long barrel on my 9" South Bend Lathe and that was almost the max. length for my lathe. I hope to finish my 24 Pounder this winter.

  Joe

[willdj79]

Quote "How big of a cannon could I make with a 9x21 benchtop lathe?"

9 or 10 inches long at the most as you need the room to drill the bore. I made my 9 1/2" long barrel on my 9" South Bend Lathe and that was almost the max. length for my lathe. I hope to finish my 24 Pounder this winter.

  Joe

Good looking cannon. I guess you could always have a machine shop drill the blank for you deeper that would allow for 20" barrels. It would be cheaper than investing in a bigger lathe. I have considered doing it since i have access to a 40" lathe. I would like to start making some half scale 6 pounder barrels.

[Cat Whisperer]

You could go longer by holding (I used a spade bit) the loooong bit in a bracket I built for the cross slide.  That way you can move the cross slide all the way to the end.  Hold the boring bar in the same fixture.

[Josco]

You could go longer by holding (I used a spade bit) the loooong bit in a bracket I built for the cross slide.  That way you can move the cross slide all the way to the end.  Hold the boring bar in the same fixture.

Excellent idea!  It's amazing how ingenious we can be when faced with a challenge and arriving at a solution to beat the machine! That's definitely on my to do list when I finish my current project.

       Thanks again
          Joe
             

             

[GGaskill]

If you have an outside source drill the bore, take them the plain piece of bar stock for the drilling so it isn't so obvious that you are making a cannon.  Then they may do the work without getting their lawyers involved.   

[Cat Whisperer]

If you have an outside source drill the bore, take them the plain piece of bar stock for the drilling so it isn't so obvious that you are making a cannon.  Then they may do the work without getting their lawyers involved.   

Good idea too!   

[Rayfan87]

Finished my first winter cannon and even fired it at midnight on new years. The little one is the one I've talked about before, the bigger is my new one, and the ipod is just for size reference.

[Max Caliber]

Very nice work.