Blackwater
10-03-2005, 08:28 PM
Didn't want to hijack the thread below about casting big balls, but you cannoneers reminded me of a question that I've been wondering for some time, and that some of you guys here may be able to shed some light on. It isn't really about moulds and maintenance, but you DO have to have something to shoot the bullets those moulds cast, right? Anyway, with the good grace of a good set of gentlemen here (I hope!):
Has anyone ever tried to rifle a cannon? I know a couple of guys with black powder cannons, and there's a fierce competition yearly between them. The recriminations go on from one shoot to the next year's shoot, which of course is just as it should be, right? [smilie=l:
I've got some old books about KY rifles and how they were rifled, and with some pics of rifling setups. They're essentially a rounded log, turned to diameter, with a hand filed/gouged/routed groove that's (at least in one case) cut a segment at a time by drawing lines a certain distance forward and a certain distance off parallel. A guide stud is basically run along inside this groove as it's driven backward (again, in at least one setup) through the length of the barrel, eventually forming a decent groove. They only did one groove at a time with this setup, since with the improvised machinery they had back in the mountains, there was only so much "power" to run that cutter through, and one groove at the time probably produced more accurate results for this type of "equipment," if you can even really call it that these days.
Could not a cannon be similarly rifled, with scrap from here and there, mostly??? What would make a good cutter for cast steel cannon barrels? If this thread costs someone money, all I can say is "GOOD!" Y'all dang sho' are costing ME some, and one good turn deserves anther, ya' know? :wink:
Surely someone has done this, haven't they???
Has anyone ever tried to rifle a cannon? I know a couple of guys with black powder cannons, and there's a fierce competition yearly between them. The recriminations go on from one shoot to the next year's shoot, which of course is just as it should be, right? [smilie=l:
I've got some old books about KY rifles and how they were rifled, and with some pics of rifling setups. They're essentially a rounded log, turned to diameter, with a hand filed/gouged/routed groove that's (at least in one case) cut a segment at a time by drawing lines a certain distance forward and a certain distance off parallel. A guide stud is basically run along inside this groove as it's driven backward (again, in at least one setup) through the length of the barrel, eventually forming a decent groove. They only did one groove at a time with this setup, since with the improvised machinery they had back in the mountains, there was only so much "power" to run that cutter through, and one groove at the time probably produced more accurate results for this type of "equipment," if you can even really call it that these days.
Could not a cannon be similarly rifled, with scrap from here and there, mostly??? What would make a good cutter for cast steel cannon barrels? If this thread costs someone money, all I can say is "GOOD!" Y'all dang sho' are costing ME some, and one good turn deserves anther, ya' know? :wink:
Surely someone has done this, haven't they???