Thoughts on trunnion attachment

[de_lok]

another.................

[de_lok]

Can't seem to get more than one pic per post, bear with me I'm learning.........

[de_lok]

Cutter I use

[keith44]

slick, I see why you kept this a secret

[de_lok]

Keith44> glad you like the idea, I hope others are able to use this method. I plan to share many of my ideas and methods with this forum. This is the best cannon group I have ever found. Some of the info freely available here took hundreds of hours for skilled craftsmen to work out, and I appreciate them making so much info available. I plan to "give back" by sharing my ideas and methods. Anyone struggling with a cannon build on  smaller scale cannons feel free to PM me, I can usually come up with some type of creative solution.................   I would love to see more detailed instructional threads.................................

[Frank46]

I really like this forum. Met a great bunch of folks who aren't afraid to speak their minds and offer help to those of us who may have had no clue about proper cannon construction. It's why I keep coming back here every night. If even one person gets a poorly constructed cannon and comes here to find out how it should be made then it will all have been worth it. While I'm at it, is there a specified method of welding. Tig, stick or mig??. Frank

[gunsonwheels]

Spot using TIG and any one of the three for finishing.  Some folks say MIG doesn't get good penetration but I have a lot of lab tests proving otherwise (CO2 shielding gas).  I believe armorer77 uses tig for both the tacking and final welding and his technique is posted in my thread on trunnion distortion.  I prefer tacking with his method up to about 30-40% of the fill and finishing up with a good 7000 series stick.  Also I cheat if I MIG the last part by using the pulsing feature of my Miller Invison 350.
 
GOW/George 

[Tropico]

Hello once again men ! I been gone awhile ., getting ready for my IDC (Instructors Development Course) . Yes I am nervouse about it.  Any way I do not have close ups of Wes's 1 1/2" bore 6-pack.., trunnion attachment handy., however I do have photos of one of my 1" bore swivel gun trunnion attachments.


In my humble experience these are my findings.



 All my afore mentioned guns have precision fit swivel yokes . I believe if there is some play in that area ., perhaps that could cause trunnion attachment problems.  My 1" bore is from Canadian Cannon Company (The pics) . Dom built the yoke as to have NO-PLAY from left to right ., and NO-Play in the trunnion diameter ., this holds things in a tight precision package . I believe all of this is just as important so the gun stays as was machined.


 I have fired these setups many times with round ball and have no play to date. I will however be welding 4 of the six-pack as the intention when they were built was screw in AND welded. We did notweld at that time dueto shipping ., I could ship in a more slender box and save akot shipping 6 guns.  Someone here in the PI thinks they can weld the other 2 guns (Bronze) as well I like to see their work first before letting them arc across Wes's awesome work.  The Canadian Cannon I will leave un welded as it does not live fire anymore in the PI. However I believe it is just fine . No play with many rounds thru it.


I am more than confident with the screw in trunnion for my applications (Ball weight and powder loads) however to use a screw in and weld...., well that would really be the way.  Note ., I have not fired these in a less precision wooden trunnion cap type mount.

[Cat Whisperer]

NICE work!

[gunsonwheels]

Tropico:
 
As you show no bevel for having the weld to go into... I assume when you weld you simply fillet in the corner where rimbase portion of the trunnion and the barrel meet...??  Do you smooth and blend the area where the weld fillet meets the barrel/trunnion??  I found when smooting/blending you sometimes realize a little extra weld material is/was required to do that task and still have a sufficient fillet to have a good structurally strong join.  That is what led me to beveling so if the smoothing blending removes all the external fillet there is still the weld material in the bevel keeping everything in place.  My beveling technique is described in the thread below about trunnion distortion.
 
I kind of like de-lok's variation on the method as it allows leaving a sharp corner at the join such as is seen on some of the cast bronze originals.
 
Great discussion and I thank all who are/have contributed.
 
All of it beats hard fixturing both the barrel and the trunnions to hold things accurately in place for tacking/welding.  Heck... we used the carriage and cap squares to hold things when doing the tacking of the trunnions on my first gun. 
 
GOW/George 

[Tropico]

The welding has not been done as of yet ., but your plan " I assume when you weld you simply fillet in the corner where rimbase portion of the trunnion and the barrel meet...??  Do you smooth and blend the area where the weld fillet meets the barrel/trunnion??  I found when smooting/blending you sometimes realize a little extra weld material is/was required to do that task and still have a sufficient fillet to have a good structurally strong join.  That is what led me to beveling so if the smoothing blending removes all the external fillet there is still the weld material in the bevel keeping everything in place. "
Sounds like the one we should be using.  I am hoping to be able to add enough weld it can be smoothed down enough it will look casted and polished one peice when finished ., the welding will include a handle for the swivel guns coming from the cascabel itself ., and again ., enough weld to provide the appearance they were casted that way after polishing them down.