Author Topic: Golf Ball Cannon. (Read 5522 times)

tombegood · « **on:** October 09, 2012, 01:27:17 AM »

Just an Idea. I am currently constructing a golf ball cannon. This will be my first and I can't wait to fire this sucker.
Purchased the barrel from cannonthunder.com. As a safer alternative for a projectile, I am thinking of using a mini tennis ball 1.5 inches.
These can be purchased in most pet stores. Has anyone ever tried using these??

tombegood · « **Reply #1 on:** October 09, 2012, 01:42:17 AM »

Have also seen people using bread squeezed into a ball. I am just looking for a safe substitute to use when an actual golf ball
would not be appropriate for shooting.

flagman1776 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2012, 03:15:15 AM »

Anything which comes out of the barrel can be a projectile. Personally, I like to use wet grass clipping or seaweed as appropriate to the location so there's no worry over mess. I am careful to use NO more than a "ball" and that the grass is squeezed out as much as possible. Wadding does increase pressures and can cause problems. I think it improves report.
Your black powder... use real BP... should be in a foil cartridge to fit your tube. BP does not need compression to BANG!!
I think you should try it with proper loads with no wad first & increase load & add wads only as needed to make a nice BANG. If you are only making noise, I find it wasteful to use excessive powder.

de_lok · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2012, 06:08:52 AM »

If you don't mind cleaning up the mess use a fire retardent material for a dry wad (I had an old wool coat I cut up) and newspaper. Ball the wool patch up and ram it in first. Dip the paper in water and ram it in tight for a good seal. This gives it some "compression" and a little weight. The wet paper also helps keep the barrel clean. I usually us enough wet paper to match the diameter of the bore, if it is a 1.5 in bore then I would make the wad 1.5 deep. Its easy to measure, just measure your ramrod after the dry wad is packed in and then remeasure after the wet wad is rammed in, you will then know how much paper to use. Remember it will be a mess to clean up!

Dewayne

Double D · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2012, 07:22:21 AM »

First welcome to our board tomebegood. Glad to have you. Sure wish you had dropped by before you bought your first cannon.

Cannonthunder cannons have too tight a bore, no windage and must have their bores scrupulously cleaned between shots or you can hang a ball up. His designs with one exception-MARCIAcannon are butt ugly and unimaginative. His powder chambers are massively over sized. On the positive side, he uses 4140 ordnance steel to make his barrels.

For the money you could have bought a gun from one of our sponsors, that is strong, properly made and doesn't look so amateurish

Why would you think a tennis ball would be any safer projectile, a projectile is a projectile. Bread, tennis balls, grass clippings, wet newspaper are all projectiles and should be fired keeping that in mind. Gras clipping can break the neighbeors window across the street.

If you just want a noise maker look in our stickies for instruction on making a foil cartridge. You can get plenty of bang with those and little to no flying debris.

Doc Brown. · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2012, 08:51:56 AM »

QUESTION? Why does cannon thunder use bronze bushings? What is the purpose of that. It boggles my mind!

While you can get a much better cannon from a sponsor here don't let that get you down. You got a cannon and your going to have a blast.

I have to hand it to cannon thunder. They must sell a bazillion cannons a year. I have heard from many of there customers. All happy little campers. Being number one on goggle really has it advantages.

I have heard that flour wrapped in foil makes for a nice wadding.

onegreatshot · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2012, 01:45:47 PM »

I too have purchased one of Cannon Thunders Mtn. Howitzers in G/B size. I sent it to Ed (Armorer77) for him to do a field carriage with. Ed, being the nice guy he is, told me (1) the bore is to small and needs to be reamed out a little bit. Then he also told me that the (2) trunnions were to small for the cannon size and would need to have a bushing placed over the old trunnions for this to be a safe cannon. So beware of what needs to be done for a safe cannon. Again Thanks Ed for catching this before a problem occurred. Dennis

tombegood · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2012, 01:58:29 PM »

Yes I realize it has a very tight bore. I have no trouble cleaning the barrel between shots. This is good practice anyway. It will mostly be used as a fun way to make a lot of noise, but I do want the option of loading a projectile into it. I know this may sound a little crazy, but I am also looking into the 1 1/2 inch mortar shell available at pyrocreations.com to use as an exploding shell for the Fourth of July. I live near the ocean, so I figure it would be pretty neat (and safer) to launch one of those over the water. I will be researching this at a later date. Yes cannon thunder doesn't make the prettiest barrels, but the maple caisson I am building for it will make up for that. I purchased their 11" barrel with the rear trunnion.

tombegood · « **Reply #8 on:** October 09, 2012, 02:20:09 PM »

I am also looking for a good way to blacken the barrel. I have seen everything online from chemical treating, bake on gun paint, to using high temp brake caliper paint. Has anyone here ever done anything like this? I may just attach a rouge wheel to my grinder and polish this sucker to a mirror finish.

Double D · « **Reply #9 on:** October 09, 2012, 06:27:45 PM »

Rustoleum or Krylon high temperature black barbecue spray paint. This cannon was painted in 1984 and this is what it looked like in 2004.

I refurbished it in 2009 again using rustoleum black parbecue paint.

tombegood · « **Reply #10 on:** October 09, 2012, 07:55:53 PM »

Another question...What is the advantage of packaging the powder into a foil cartridge? How is it loaded into the barrel? Is it dropped into the powder chamber and then the fuse inserted through it?? I have found some people suggest the foil cartridge and others are totally against it.

buzz36 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 10, 2012, 02:59:49 AM »

trust me foil wrapped powder is the way to go
I use PVC pipe and a dowle rod set you charge in the pvc send that down tothe powder chamber and ram home with the dowel rod pvc ID is chamber size OD is about 1/8" smaller then bore
by the way nice start on your carriage welcome here to the group

GLS · « **Reply #12 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:18:45 AM »

Buzz36 is right. I tried all kind of ways to put the charge in the chamber of the new GB Parrott barrel Armorer77 just made me and came up with the same idea that works great.
My chamber is 1" x 3". The end cap has the perfect windage and centers the charge just right.

tombegood · « **Reply #13 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:40:37 AM »

OK thanks! Should the fuse be inserted after the charge is loaded into the barrel? GLS thanks for the drawing. I will definitely use your design.

Thanks for the compliment on the carriage Buzz. I looked at hundreds of pictures online to come up with my design. I am incorporating features form all that I have looked at to come up with this. I am at a standstill now till I get the barrel. I want to fit it properly. More pictures will follow as I progress with my little project.

A quick note on the barrel diameter. After giving it some thought I contacted Cannon Thunder and asked them to bore out the barrel slightly larger and bring it up to 1.723. Seeing it hasn't been shipped yet they have no problem doing this for me. I am very happy with their customer service. They have always replied to my emails within one hour of my sending them and have been very accommodating.

tombegood · « **Reply #14 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:45:12 AM »

If you look next to the carriage you will notice the Big Daddy thunder mug next to it. Bought that the same time I ordered my cannon. Not sure what to do with it, but I would also like to make something to hold it too. I was even thinking of using it as a barrel for something like this. A little unorthodox I know, but what the hell, right? lol

Double D · « **Reply #15 on:** October 10, 2012, 07:14:24 AM »

Quote from: tombegood on October 10, 2012, 03:40:37 AM

OK thanks! Should the fuse be inserted after the charge is loaded into the barrel? GLS thanks for the drawing. I will definitely use your design.

I am bit confused here are you building a cannon or mortar? The base design you have is from a mortar base. The way you have built it however, it appears you are going to use it as a cannon carriage.

Here is how it is suppose to work.

The carriage you have built has the cheeks where the trunnion rest far to high to use for a mortar. If you are building a mortar you will need to lower the checks so the barrel can lay in against the front support at 45 degrees.

If you are using this for a cannon carriage it will be a bit different but can be made to work.

For either type carriage you have a flaw in the deep vee notch. That notch in metal work would be called a stress riser, a point where stresses are focalized. That point is real susceptible to breaking right at the vee. Fortunately the wood you are using is slab sawn and not quarter saw and that will give it some strength. You are going to need a cross piece between the two side piece that extends from the top front up right piece, parallel to the sloped section that extends below the vee notch. to give it strength. You will need a second cross piece the runs under the vee and is parallel to the bottom of the carriage. These two pieces should addres yaw and roll conflicts of the two side pieces.

tombegood · « **Reply #16 on:** October 10, 2012, 12:31:59 PM »

What I am building is still up for debate. My wife likes to refer to it as a morrton. I understand the design may ruffle a few purists feathers, but I am doing this for fun, not historical accuracy.

I understand the the vee notch is a weak point. It was as of a result of a tired person making a cut at two in the morning and not paying attention.
I almost trashed the whole thing and started over, but one inch maple stock is not cheap, so I rolled the dice and continued with a slight design change. I am waiting to cut the cross pieces until the barrel comes back from the machine shop. There will be several. One where you mention, another running up the back, another acting as a floorboard which a triangular block with a 1" diameter groove cut across the top will sit on. The groove will act as a pivot point for the trunnion and support it across its entire length. Each cross piece will be glued and bolted in place. A piece of metal cut to the their edge dimensions will be mounted on the outside of the carriage behind the bolts. The 2" hardwood dowels for the wheels will also add to the strength of the design. The trunnion will not sit in a groove on top, but will ride in holes cut into the sides further down. A metal strap will be bolted above the hole providing extra strength to the wood above. I feel that I am actually going overboard with reenforcing the structure, but I don't want to end up with a bunch of splintered mach sticks after its first firing.

Good news! My wheels just arrived today.

Oh ya the wheels...I put wheels on this so the whole thing will recoil when fired further reducing strain on the carriage.

tombegood · « **Reply #17 on:** October 10, 2012, 01:16:57 PM »

3" dia x 2" wide

Doc Brown. · « **Reply #18 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:10:41 PM »

Quote from: tombegood on October 10, 2012, 01:16:57 PM

3" dia x 2" wide

Its a TRANSFORMER. I Cant wait to see the finished cannon.

Double D · « **Reply #19 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:33:21 PM »

You aren't ruffling feathers, We-I am just sharing experience....such as wheels. Free rolling wheels can put just a much shock as wheels with drag...wait until you see how far they can recoil ahd what happens when they are stopped.

FWIW the carriage is looking better with wheels.

buzz36 · « **Reply #20 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:37:06 PM »

Doc agree nothing wrong with not being HC?PC as long as it is safe i think the only issue here is it might flip around when fired
Tom set the charge with your rammer (dowel rod) and then make a steel needle to prick the charge
and insert the fuse only after you have set your projectile if using one

buzz36 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 10, 2012, 03:48:53 PM »

DD i found golf balls have little recoil with 200+ grains witch shoots them out of site i think i be worried about flipping my first cannon had simular style but even with a salute charge it would flip over

tombegood · « **Reply #22 on:** October 10, 2012, 04:04:50 PM »

Okiedokie. We shall see what happens when it finally is test fired. Gonna find a big tree to hide behind!

All I know is it will weigh about 40 lbs when finished.

tombegood · « **Reply #23 on:** October 10, 2012, 04:13:41 PM »

Double D thanks for bringing the bore diameter to my attention.

It gave me food for thought, so I went with going slightly larger. All I could picture was a pipe bomb going off if It wasn't clean enough.

buzz36 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 10, 2012, 06:45:19 PM »

golf ball is 1.68 and then you need some room for windage so 1.71 to 1.75 would be very suitable for GB size

Doc Brown. · « **Reply #25 on:** October 10, 2012, 07:14:56 PM »

Quote from: tombegood on October 10, 2012, 04:13:41 PM

Double D thanks for bringing the bore diameter to my attention.

It gave me food for thought, so I went with going slightly larger. All I could picture was a pipe bomb going off if It wasn't clean enough.

Is there any real chance that a dirty bore could cause a golf ball to become trapped in a bore during discharge? Is this a real possibility?

I think the main concern would be a golf ball not going in and down all the way. Coming out it would do. Im just guessing but a golf ball would be the path of least Resistance. Now of course if your barrel is really dumb then its a real possibility but any good barrel I would think would push a golf ball out before it pushed a chunk of steel out the side wall. Thats just my common sense guess but I also think I can see Russia from my front porch so don't listen to me.

I just finished my first golf ball bore and I just took the advise on here. 1.72 on the nose. My barrel will never rust or corrode so I don't know if I needed a 1.72 but I didn't want to screw up my first GB cannon anymore than I had to.

Double D · « **Reply #26 on:** October 10, 2012, 07:27:25 PM »

Quote from: dockholidaiy on October 10, 2012, 07:14:56 PM

Quote from: tombegood on October 10, 2012, 04:13:41 PM
Double D thanks for bringing the bore diameter to my attention.

It gave me food for thought, so I went with going slightly larger. All I could picture was a pipe bomb going off if It wasn't clean enough.

Is there any real chance that a dirty bore could cause a golf ball to become traped in a bore during dishargre? Is this a real possiblity?

I think the main concern would be a golf ball not going in and down all the way. Coming out it would do. Im just guessing but a golf ball would be the path of least Resistance. Now of course if your barrel is really dumb then its a real possibility but any good barrel I would think would push a golf ball out before it pushed a chunk of steel out the side wall. Thats just my common sense guess but I also think I can see Russia from my front porch so don't listen to me.

No not trapped discharging, stuck part way down the bore loading. Big headache. Yes it is possible. Besides loading powder into a dirty bore is hazardous.

Shooting a ball in a dirty bore is going raise pressures and might make your shot fall short or long of your target. Remember the last step in shooting is impact. Just whanging them off in the atmosphere is childs play, pretty boring. Hitting something now that is the trick.Of course the next step from childs play is to shoot zinc or steel projectiles instead boring golf balls.

And, ruptured golf balls seem to explode right as they come out the muzzle---

I'm not sure what you built you mortar out of, but I haven't seen any of the metal sused to build guns or cannopns that won't rust or corrode...even stainless.

Doc Brown. · « **Reply #27 on:** October 10, 2012, 07:36:55 PM »

Anyone ever hit a target with a Steel golf ball before using a mortar? Or is it more about getting close? The golf ball fragmenting just after discharge is enlightening. Very good to know about. Thank you.

Doc Brown. · « **Reply #28 on:** October 10, 2012, 07:39:21 PM »

It's 304 stainless. It will never rust or corrode. It's kinda like magic.

tombegood · « **Reply #29 on:** October 10, 2012, 08:25:56 PM »

Removed

Poll

Should the barrel/wheels be painted black? {Please Vote! Thanks, Tombegood}

Author Topic: Golf Ball Cannon. (Read 5522 times)