My Bronze shaft Mortar Project reached an impass... my limited equipment & skills mandated outside help. I sent my pieces... to a skilled metalworker. Upon reciept, he evaluated my pieces & my "make do" plans & suggested that there was a better way to proceed. He suggested turning the breech to a true hemisphere & using a matching ball end mill to machine the trunion. I readily agreed. He was kind enough to provide me with periodic progress pictures:
Before
After cutting Hemisphere
He made a fixture to hold the trunion shaft
Milling the trunion
The trunion pocket
Test fit the trunion on the barrel. Flawless machine work & perfect fit.
This is just a huge step up from what I had envisioned looking at the original cut off with an existing cut (which I eliminated in my initial breech turning.) I shipped out salvaged junk & got a Mortar back! The vision to look into a piece & see what it can become is priceless.
Unanticipated Problem! The welding gave him fits... the unknown alloy just did not want to weld. I hope we are still friends after this. I had no idea it would be a bow-wow!
Shipped 2 days before Christmas (flat rate, if it fits, it ships!) Amazingly, I recieved it 2 days later, after noon on Christmas eve. I will dress the weld a bit after I recover from Christmas. See there is a Santa Claus!