Collaborative cannon project
I recently found myself in the position being the part owner of a cannon ( don't ask... )There were a few "issues" to be dealt with however.
The cannon was in Key West, I was in New Jersey.
The cannon had no carriage to sit on.
I had never owned either a cannon OR carriage for one...
I currently don't have a shop together.
SO I did some research on cannons, came up with an idea (and an .eps file for one that could be cut on a Shopbot )and then called on the expertise of fellow Shopbotter Gary Campbell down in Tavernier,FL for some help.
After going through some of the options of possible materials for such a project, Gary talked me into using one of my least favorite
options- Extira.....While I have ranted against it here many times on the Forum his logic was hard to dispute. We would be able to get all of the needed pieces out of one sheet of 1.25"thick stock, he had some on hand, and he was willing to do the cutting for me...
So I e-mailed Gary the .eps file, my cannon partner and I drove the tube for "Lil Thunder" up from Key West to Gary's shop in Tavernier, and we proceeded to cut what may be the first set of cannon wheels ever done on a CNC machine...
The results were nothing short of spectacular. Once we had the parts cut out we did a "dry fit" of the components at Gary's shop, and then we drove "Li'l Thunder" back down to Key West.
Turns out that my partner also did not have a shop as he lives on a houseboat in the municipal marina. He didn't have any tools either,so I got to know the local hardware stores very well...
We started with three coats of MAS epoxy (first coat diluted 50/50 with lacquer thinner for penetration), and we had to use the "slow" catalyst even though the weather was somewhat less than tropical during my stay.
Once we got the wheels sealed we asked around town for leads on who might be able to "blacksmith" some steel rims for the carriage as we knew the Extira would never be able to handle the kind of rolling we have in mind for it. One lead took us to the local welding shop, and when I walked in with the wheel the owner asked what it was for. I said "a cannon carriage"and his eyes lit up. Turns out that he is the current owner of over 100 cannons (at his home no less) and he was a major factor in the discovery, and recovery of the "Atocha" off of Key West a few years back. SO he personally took charge of this part of the project. He found us 1.25"steel flat bar, rolled it into the shape needed, then he welded up the "trunnion caps" we'd need to keep the cannon from jumping off the carriage after each firing. (While our cannon "only" has a 1.5" bore some of his babies can shoot 15", 450 pound steel balls, so this was kid stuff for him..).
Once we got the steel work done, we drove back to the boat, bolted some flanged pillow blocks to the wheels ( Brady Watson's idea, and a good one) epoxied everything in place, and threw a few coats of paint on her. As you can see in the final picture, she's now ready to either do battle, or announce "Happy hour" at the local waterfront saloon.
It was great to have all of this collaborative effort come together, and it reinforces the concept that when everyone works to their strengths you can accomplish a lot more than trying to do it all by yourself...
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