A bronze cannon by me.

[george wilson]

This is a bronze cannon Jon and I made for our retiring director. It took about 2 1/2 months to make,IIRC.

I made the barrel,and Jon made the carriage. The carriage is naval type of mahogany. The gun is patterned after the guns on the USS Constitution. Plans are available from the Mariner's Museum,newport News,Va.. We also made all the iron hardware.

There is a dedication engraved on the top of the breech. Around the very end of the gun,are the maker's names,etc. stamped in freehand,as the old ones were done sometimes.

The barrel is aluminum bronze,5" dia. at the breech,and 30" long. With the ruler closer to the camera,the gun looks smaller.

The bronze was cold rolled,and as tough as stainless steel,it seemed. the most challenging part was how to do the trunnions. They had to be below the centerline. I bored a hole through the blank bar of bronze,below center,and threaded it clear through. Then,the hole was bored larger near the outside,to receive the full diameter of the trunnions. The trunnions were turned with an interference fit thread. They had to hit the bottom of the counterbored holes,and meet each other tightly in the center of the gun. They are as strong as solid.

The gun was then bored to receive 1 3/8" diameter ball bearing balls we had found at a junkyard,and bought hundreds of pounds of. They make great cannon balls!!! It took days to bore this tough bronze out.

Much of the work on the gun is freehand turning with HSS wood turning tools,Woodcraft house brand.The mouldings,breech area and decorations everywhere are hand turned.

This gun is much stronger than any original gun could ever have been,being made of a cold rolled bar,and of a very strong,tough alloy.

I am currently making a similar(but nicer) gun for myself. My carriage will be quartered white oak,showing lots of medular ray flaking. I have fully completed the barrel.I made my breech more "stacked out" than this one,and did not constrain myself to copying the Constitution guns.

I did not weigh this gun,but it takes 2 men to lift it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

George, I am at a loss for words! I am amazed at the quality of work! Most impressive! I am sure your retiring director will be thrilled with this! Thanks for sharing!

[george wilson]

Thank you Steve. This job was several years and 4 other directors back!!! I lived through 4 Col. Wmsbg. presidents,and 4 directors. That's a long time-39 years.

[John Shuk]

George, What amazing work you do. You are a real national treasure. Each object you post makes me want to get to Williamsburg more and more.

[Matt Ranum]

Your talent is amazing.:eek:

[Gary Herrmann]

Beautiful.

[Ted Calver]

Another great chapter for the book :)

[Brian Kent]

Another great chapter for the book :)

Amen! That's what I'm sayin'!

[Leigh Betsch]

George what is the scale of this gun? Is it full scale? I'd like to build one some day but living out here on the prairie I'm thinking more of a calvary gun.

[george wilson]

I don't know how big full scale would be without research. The gun is more like 1/3 scale,I guess. A cavalry gun probably would be about 8" diameter breech,and 4 1/2 feet long for a Napoleon. A "grass hopper" of the 18th.C. would be about the size I mentioned. I can't say without looking it up. You need to research maybe a Napoleon gun. Artillery is a complicated subject. The guns were of quite a few classifications. I saw a "mountain howitzer" not too much larger than the gun I made. Maybe 25% larger.

[Leigh Betsch]

I'd have to sell all my tools in order to afford the brass for a 8" barrel, although maybe the land guns were cast iron or steel. Before I head off on another project I'll have to do considerable research. Or maybe I'll just make something out of an old sewer pipe. :rolleyes: Just something to point at the gate to make the visitors a bit squeamish!!;)

[Eric Hartunian]

I'm an artillery officer in the army, so this is of particular interest to me. Nice job on the carriage. I especially like the wedge to adjust elevation.
Great work, George.

[Mike Henderson]

Great work, George. Couple of questions:

1. Why use such a hard bronze for a decorative item? It's unlikely the canon will be fired (used) enough, and with a large enough load, that the strength is necessary.

2. What is the purpose of that knob on the rear of the canon? Many old canon have them. Could it be that the canon got hot in heavy use and that knob allowed the gunner to control the canon without burning his hands?

Mike

[george wilson]

Leigh,be very careful An old pipe is not going to be remotely thick enough.

Thanks,Eric. Mike,I used the hard bronze because I could lay hands on it as scrap. the cannon was made to shoot,but never has. Mine will certainly be shot.

The knob is the cascabel knob. I did not show any of the rope tackle with the gun. there would be several ropes,with blocks and tackle to heave the gun back into position after firing. A large rope went around the knob to help control the recoil of the gun. If you look,you will see some rings on the carriage for various ropes to be secured to. Even field artillery had this knob,though it really functioned on naval guns. On field artillery,a spike at the end of the tail(trail) of the gun dug into the ground to help check recoil. Eventually,the knob was used as a fitting to thread an elevating screw into,and the carriage was relied upon to control the recoil.It could be that earlier they did not want to rely upon the trunnions to take the full shock of recoil aboard ships,where a cannon that broke loose in crowded quarters could kill a lot of crewmen,and recoil a hole through the other side of the ship. That is a guess on my part. Later on,more quality control of the castings might have permitted more reliance on the trunnions.

Bronze guns were favored,because they would burst open. They usually did not break into pieces. Cast iron guns would explode into fragments,killing a lot of crew. Bronze was(and is) very expensive,and cast iron was used instead most often. The number of times a gun was fired was kept track of,and when the limit was reached,the gun would be melted down and recast. Every time the gun,especially a cast iron one,was fired,the metal was hammered from inside. Hammer enough times,and the metal would fatigue enough to blow apart.

[Leigh Betsch]

My gun will be for point'n not for shoot'n. Although it would be kinda fun to crank off a few rounds on the Fourth.

[george wilson]

You had better check out some books and read up,Leigh. You could get yourself,or someone else killed,and be in lawsuit land. I would never make any gun that was not safe to shoot. Too much chance that down the road,the gun could pass into someone's hands,who would think it was real,and would do something stupid,like break open a bunch of shotgun shells,and load smokeless powder,and blow the gun up. That has happened a lot. People don't know better,and use scavenged smokeless powder into antique guns often,and blow them up." Black powder only" is now stamped upon all black powder repros.

[Leigh Betsch]

Good advice George, there are a lot of people in the world that know very little about firearms. How about if I make the barrel out of a solid log, and paint a black spot for the hole? Just for pointing to make the visitors squirm. I'm just kidding. If I actually do get around to building something I'll do some research and either make something that is impossible to load up and shoot, probably a solid plug in the barrel, or a scaled down kit of some kind that is intended to be shot. I think I've seen some ads for black powder scale cannon kits. I've built a couple of black powder kit long guns, but I don't like to shoot them, too dirty and hard to maintain accuracy unless you clean them more than you shoot them.

[george wilson]

There are full size guns out there for sale.Dixie gun works offers cannon,but they get expensive. I knew a foundry in Newport News,Va. that cast their guns. They suspended a steel tube down the center of the mould cavity,and poured cast iron around it. That was a strong design. Oh yes,they welded the back end of the tube shut,too. It might have been a stainless steel tube. The foundry closed years ago. Lots of places offer guns,though. Google cannon.

[george wilson]

I'm not even advising this.I will mention that some guys on the Practical Machinist's Forum have made cannon by using thick wall seamless steel tubing. Say,2" bore,1/2" thick walls,3" outer Dia. BUT,they are machinists,and made a length of seamless tubing that they accurately bored out,heated up and shrunk fit over the last 1/3 of the length of the barrel. They threaded the breech,and put in a heavy steel plug.

I did not think the guns were attractive,but they said they were strong enough. I didn't say that,THEY said that.

[Zahid Naqvi]

George, as always your work is astounding. I think you should seriously think about compiling all the pictures and write a book. Each of your projects have an interesting enough story behind them. If not a printed book you should be able to put something together to create an online book. I am sure there will be enough readers/visitors to pay for the cost of running the website and the initial design.

[george wilson]

I wish I knew how,Zahid. So far,you are the only one saving the work by putting it into FAQ,which I am grateful for. I need to get a computer whiz,and make a website.

[Clay Thigpen]

That's really cool George you are a man of many talents. I'm a Civil War re-enactor and I'm around the field artillery a lot, the cannons you buy today come in full size and every size up to it. I'd say if you wanted to make a cannon I'd research the Swivel gun.

[Terry Beadle]

George.... now I see what you ment about grinding a chisel to 90 degrees. Hoot! ;)

[george wilson]

Clay,I've thought of a swivel gun,but I would be restricted in where I could shoot it. I think a cannon looks nicer with a carriage,and I can get a bit away from it when it goes off!! I have a 1" bore cannon,which I made earlier,and which the big ones are scaled up from. It makes a 20' blast with 400 grains of powder,and a 1" ball bearing. It is turned from cold rolled steel. I shot a hole right through a 6" oak log with it.

[Clay Thigpen]

Now that's cool. I thought someone had asked about where to start for making a cannon themselves that's what the swivel gun was for.

Your right they do look a lot better mounted to a carriage. For the large scale ones I'm really found of the Napoleons. The old brass seems to have more of a resonance than the new one's do though. At one of the events I attended they were using an original that had been given the name "Satan" ( this was to echo the naming of Brigadier General Pendleton's four cannons from VMI that he named "Matthew","Mark","Luke",And "John") you could always tell it out from the noise of the others and it made you remember what it was used for.

Since you did a lot with Th C. work Down here in Georgia at Fort King George they have a nice little skiff outfitted with a swivel gun at the bow, and a bunch of them along the outer walls of the fort. They also have the large scale cannon of the same type as yours.

[george wilson]

Clay,I hope to hear my bronze gun resonate sometime this Summer,but with the other things I'm always doing,it may happen later.Especially as I can't lift the barrel by myself. Another problem is figuring out what to stamp around the muzzle,"Happy he who escapes me" has been taken.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hey George, Do you have a Federal firearms mfg license? An old friend of mine Henry Sostek in Beverly Mass who is an experimental machinist by trade has made cannon for years to sell. He's been lcensed for about 20 years. He sells to yacht clubs for salute guns and race starting and to the occasional collector. I saw a wonderful pair of brass replicas of 24 pounders, like on USS Constitution, that he did for a collecter in 1/4 scale. The test firing used half a pound of black powder per gun and it certainly drew the attention of the neighbors..... and the local cops.

[george wilson]

Dave,you do not need a license to make muzzle loaders of any kind.Not in the state I live in.I know that in some states,particulary in the New England states,you might not be able to have guns at all. I have a remote area where we can shoot anything we want,legally,even machine guns,though I do not have any desire to have one of those.You are only required to be so many hundred yards from other houses,or roads.Of course,for fully automatic weapons you must have a license. Too expensive in my opinion to enjoy a few seconds of noise while 30 or 50 rounds go blasting down range.

Now,anything over 60 caliber in a BREECH loader would be considered a destructive weapon. Muzzle loaders are entirely a different matter.

When the reinactors converge on Williamsburg every year,they always have an even larger gun than the one I made,and they fire blanks in it.

It would be foolish for me to publicly post any illegal items. I am fully up on the law.One of my friends holds an federal firearms license,and my former journeyman was also a gunsmith . Believe me,this topic has been discussed to death on the Practical Machinist's Forum. Dixie Gun Works,and a number of other sources have sold cannon from models up to full size guns for many decades.The only guns of any kind that you must buy through a FFL,which they sell, are breech loading cartridge guns,that are working replicas of antique rifles and pistols.In fact,you do not have to buy through an FFL original,still functioning cartridge firearms that are considered antiques,though ammunition for them may still be available. Dixie's cannon used to be cast right close to me in Newport News.

I have never made any cartridge guns of any kind. The guns I have made are more artistic in nature,and would be flintlock,or percussion type. I like guns,but the fact it,I seldom make them,because most of the work is endless polishing,which is the part I do not enjoy much.

[John Messinger]

Beautiful work! You've gotta shoot it on the 4th of July!

[David Keller NC]

Guys - George's alluded to this, but state laws vary greatly on what you can leagally own and shoot. In my state (NC), it's legal to own just about any gun (except for a fully automatic firearm - you have to have a Federal Class III license for those, and the local sheriff has to agree to it).

However, you cannot legally shoot a gun with large bores. In the case of cartridge guns, the limit is 1/2 of an inch. For muzzle loading black powder, I think the limit is 3/4 of an inch. Exceptions are made in special circumstances like historical re-enactments that do not involve a projectile, but you must have a permit from the local sheriff for the purpose.

The reason I bring this up is a fair number of people in NC got busted for making, possessing and shooting "potato cannons" back about 10 years ago when that was all the rage. Despite being fueled by the propane in hairspray, in the eyes of the law it was the same as black powder/cordite/smokeless powder.

[george wilson]

Let's please not turn this thread into a long discussion of gun rights,everyone. It is against the rules to post political discussions. I stated the Va. laws,and that's all I am concerned about,since I live here,and do not plan to move. I know civil war reinactors who shoot full size cannon,and this cannon has never been fired,anyway.

[Clay Thigpen]

The bronze was cold rolled,and as tough as stainless steel,it seemed. the most challenging part was how to do the trunnions. They had to be below the centerline. I bored a hole through the blank bar of bronze,below center,and threaded it clear through. Then,the hole was bored larger near the outside,to receive the full diameter of the trunnions. The trunnions were turned with an interference fit thread. They had to hit the bottom of the counterbored holes,and meet each other tightly in the center of the gun.


George, it has always puzzled me as to how the trunnions would be made I knew that some of the guns were cast and not turned but in Rome,GA there is a Cannon lathe (or most of one) from the Civil War era and it always puzzled me as to how it would be truned.

[george wilson]

They were turned by mounting the cannon barrel vertically with the trunnions mounted between centers in a very large swing lathe.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Sorry folks about the confusion from the question about the licensing. I know a number of years ago when they wanted to fire one of the guns from the 6" battery on the USS Massachusetts which is in Fall River Mass, my friend Henry was hired to supervise. He had no real knowledge of the guns, but his federal licenses made him necessary because of the size of the guns.

My previous post was one of curiosity, not an attack on George who I highly respect.

[David Keller NC]

"Let's please not turn this thread into a long discussion of gun rights,everyone."

I agree, George. I posted my comment more from the aspect that if someone sees this thread and wants to reproduce one of these, that they be aware that laws on making and using these vary quite a bit from State to State, and I wouldn't want someone to get into trouble with the authorities for what would otherwise be thought of as just an ordinary exercise of the craft.

[george wilson]

If they do not drill the touch hole,I think the cannon would be legal in any state.

I just had an idea!!You do not drill the touch hole,so the cannon is legal. Then,when you want to fire it,you put in the powder,and a REAL LONG cannon fuse. You shove a loosely fitting ball down the barrel,over the long fuse.Then,you light the fuse from the muzzle. Once in a while you look down the barrel to see if the fuse is still burning.:)