Salute Cannon - Refinishing

[Deadpool]

My father had a small salute cannon that appeared to be brass sitting on one of his shelves. He passed away several years ago, and I've been servicing his old rifles and such as he allowed them to get rusty since he couldn't do much maintenance on them over the last twenty years or so. So I finally got around to looking at his old miniature salute cannon, which is about 6" long with 3" wheels and looks like a scale 1841 6-pounder. It had a brass-like finish, which should have been bronze but the steel was rusting through and whatever was coating it was flaking off. So I cleaned it up and it looks fantastic but has left me wondering about restoring the bronze appearance.

Dating it, it was probably made in the 50's or 60's. I remember it being old, weathered, and well used back in the late 70's. It appears to be a medium steel.

Is there anything I can do to give it a polished bronze appearance? I want to have it ready for Independance Day, and bring it back to life. Nothing quite like a loud salute to our fallen heroes.

[country gent]

It couldbe replated with a layer of copper then bronze. Not sure who or where to get it done and it isnt real cheap to have done. If all you want is the barrel redone you might be able to heat it in an oven or with a tourch to adequate temp the melt brazing rod onto it. By pre heating the part the rod should flow evenly and make the following sanding and finishing go much easier. We did some of this where I worked heating the part in the heat treat oven to temp of brazing rod and then working braze onto surface. I wouldnt try to do trunions or parts with mating surfaces as this is a thicker build up than plating. You need to have the part heated very evenly when doing this and supported well. In this case a snug rod in the bore clamped in a vise. Dont forget to plug touch hole witha pin of material that the braise wont adhere to also.

[andremajic]

If you decide to keep it steel, look into buying one of my bottles of rust blue. Really easy to do finish and looks great!

Andy

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I don't know the US 1841 gun, but it was a time when guns might still have bands, astragals etc., rather than the almost entirely smooth surface which came in later. Plating would have to be good to stand much polishing. It ought to be done professionally, and bronze plating is uncommon, and probably an expensive one-off job if it could be done at all. Copper plating is a possibility, and would look like bronze if you were content to let it become patinated rather than polishing. Don't be fooled by demonstrations of copper-plating coins with low voltage and copper sulphate in science labs. That doesn't actually adhere to the surface, and will both become uneven if continued, and flake off.

I believe I would remove the remains of the old plating and refinish the steel. Birchwood Casey Plum Brown is easily done, and looks extremely good on an old gun. It is possible that the 1841 gun, like British ones, was made in both bronze and steel.

[Deadpool]

I remember a science experiment where they took a copper penny and placed it in a boiling solution of sodium hydroxide that had just dissolved some zinc. The penny became zinc. Then they removed it and placed it over a flame, causing the copper to blend with the zinc and appear like a gold coin. I don't know if I can use tin instead of zinc for a similar effect, for more of a bronze appearance instead of brass. I'd still be happy with a nice solid brass finish, though. I could braze it as CG mentioned, I'm just concerned about keeping it even after sanding and polishing.

AM, I don't want a blue/brown oxidized finish to a scale model of a period gun. Bottle bluing isn't really blue, you probably need to use one of the nitrate methods, so I could make it red or green or whatever too if I want. I could cerakote it, but that wouldn't look right at all. Tactical 1841 cannon. Lol.

I agree, BoS, electroplating is a forced bond and only encases, creating a shell that can flake. Plus you need a pump to force the CuSO4 solution to blow across your workpiece and it won't be even unless there's plenty of mechanical activity in the solution. However, if the ions were naturally attracted to your target metal without electricity, you should get a proper bonding. And yes it has reinforcing rings, fillets, and curved muzzle and belled cascable, except the flash hole is in the knob. I'll get a photo up for you later.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I can't see the brazing method coating all those details accurately. At least plating could be tried on various pieces of scrap, but I wouldn't count on the brazing working the same way twice. You would also have to be really sure that the trunnions and cascabel weren't silver soldered on.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Back in my apprentice days we would wipe steel plates with blue copper vitriol solution on a cotton ball, before marking them with a needle scriber. The surface would take on a nice dull copper tone.

If your cannon was lightly sand blasted and then brushed with fine steel wool (use gloves to avoid greasy fingers) I'm sure the result would be nice. You can reapply the solution for a thicker, more even layer. A coat of clear lacquer would seal the finish and should improve on the "bronze" look.

[fouronesix]

That doesn't actually adhere to the surface, and will both become uneven if continued, and flake off.

I believe I would remove the remains of the old plating and refinish the steel. Birchwood Casey Plum Brown is easily done, and looks extremely good on an old gun.

I think that is what I would do. Since you are going to shoot it, either brown or blue finish of the bare steel (iron) would be easiest to maintain or touch up in the future. After all it's just a plated facsimile from the 50s? and not a brass barreled gun anyway.