Any cannon owners here?

[RetiredUSNChief]

BowerR64:

I think you said your cannons go down to a 3 inch barrel. If so, and you feel the urge to shoot something with your cannon, go to Walmart or a sporting goods store and buy some "Wilson Red" tennis balls. They're 3 inch diameter, low bounce balls meant for shorter courts and little kids. They fit the 3 inch barrel perfectly.

At max elevation in the carriage, my cannon will launch one of these about 100 yards.

I chose these oversized tennis balls because I never tested the core of my cannon as a spud gun before I put all the work into the body of the barrel. All the spud guns I've ever seen had smaller barrels and firing chambers than my cannon, plus calcium carbide is far more reactive than hair spray...I'm not at all certain my cannon would hold up to the peak pressures generated if I were to pack a tight fitting potato down the barrel and light it off. Because I've never tested this, I wouldn't recommend using your cannons as spud guns either. Use the oversized tennis balls instead.

Remember not to insert them down past the actual barrel to where they fall into the firing chamber, though.

And after a few firings...the fuzz on them ain't so fuzzy any more...

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I have a few cannons and shoot only one of them. I bought it in 1970 from Barneys Cannons - they have since changed their name. It's a 1/8th scale of a Dahlgren 9 inch shell gun. It has a 1 inch bore and shooting a lead ball with holes drilled in the ball makes the ball whistle. The problem is that I have no place to shoot it that is safe. It takes at least 600 yards at high elevation to enjoy hearing the ball whistle down range. I now use it for the 4th and New Years and fire blanks. A neighbor has bought a replica 3 inch ordnance rifle which always wins the boom contest.

600 yards? WOW!

Maybe you could try this over an open lake somewhere?

 

[BowerR64]

I just tried to make one i could shoot in the house like a small big bang cannon and i cant get it to even pop.

I used all 1" PVC parts.

Im starting to think it needs to have a taper, i should of got a 1" to 1/2" redicer or something to take it down like our big ones.

Ive searched and searched and i cant find any calculations on how it works or what makes it work as far as how much air per inch or a way to calculate it.

i just want it to pop like a fire cracker and i cant even get that.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

A one inch one wouldn't require very much at all...a tiny pinch at most. Too much calcium carbide would mean generating enough gas to displace all the Oxygen in the chamber, which would mean a dud result.

Try backing off to a very tiny amount and slowly building up in tiny increments to see what happens.

 

[BowerR64]

BowerR64:

I think you said your cannons go down to a 3 inch barrel. If so, and you feel the urge to shoot something with your cannon, go to Walmart or a sporting goods store and buy some "Wilson Red" tennis balls. They're 3 inch diameter, low bounce balls meant for shorter courts and little kids. They fit the 3 inch barrel perfectly.

At max elevation in the carriage, my cannon will launch one of these about 100 yards.

I chose these oversized tennis balls because I never tested the core of my cannon as a spud gun before I put all the work into the body of the barrel. All the spud guns I've ever seen had smaller barrels and firing chambers than my cannon, plus calcium carbide is far more reactive than hair spray...I'm not at all certain my cannon would hold up to the peak pressures generated if I were to pack a tight fitting potato down the barrel and light it off. Because I've never tested this, I wouldn't recommend using your cannons as spud guns either. Use the oversized tennis balls instead.

Remember not to insert them down past the actual barrel to where they fall into the firing chamber, though.

And after a few firings...the fuzz on them ain't so fuzzy any more...

I thought about it when you mentioned that a tennis ball fits perfect down the 3" pipe till i seen this chart.

Yours might be different then mine but i used SH40 pipe and mine says right on it not for pressure. I think it will be fine just making noise like im doing but if i stuff something down the front it may let go.

Acetylene i think has to fast of a reaction for shooting stuff im not going to be the first to try it. :/

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I thought about it when you mentioned that a tennis ball fits perfect down the 3" pipe till i seen this chart.

Yours might be different then mine but i used SH40 pipe and mine says right on it not for pressure. I think it will be fine just making noise like im doing but if i stuff something down the front it may let go.

"Not rated for pressure" means it's not rated to have pressurized fluids or air in it as a piping system component. Those pressures are low, usually steady, pressures.

Even if the PVC is pressure rated, it's definitely NOT talking about the kinds and types of pressures and pressure peaks caused by some kind of combustive force, such as acetylene or hair spray. So using any kind of PVC for this use is, strictly speaking, outside the intended design parameters of the PVC components and would not result in the manufacturers being held responsible for any bad things which may happen as a result.

 

[BowerR64]

I know this is off topic but i had to share what i built.

My brother built a stand for his DJ table to hide all his wires and equpment and junk. He used the 1" and i believe 3/4" it had no size markings it might be 1/2"

Anyway i bought a couple of Tees and caps in 1" and 2 $1. grill ignighter lighter things. They worked great!

I figured on 1/4 of a .22 shell for the amount of carbide. Its just a pinch like you said.

I started with 1 full .22 shell and i got black suit inside the pipes wich im pretty sure means to much acetylene to oxygen. I slowly cut the .22 shel down and it got louder and louder.

I think i can shoot marshmellows out of em.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Niiiice!

My son wants a bazooka. I told him if he'll draw up a sketch/plans, I'll help him make it. (He's 15, old enough to learn I won't do everything for him.)

So far, no plans...and no bazooka!

 

[SC45-70]

Here's one of mine in action.


SC45-70

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Sweet!

How do you transport your cannon? Flatbed trailer or something?

 

[SC45-70]

RetiredUSNChief

Mines is 1/2 scale, to haul it I either take the back seat out of my van or haul it in the back of my truck. I made a wood box to hold the barrel, with the barrel removed I can load the carrage by myself.

SC45-70

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

So, it's a fairly manageable size, then. What's the weight of the cannon and the carriage components?

 

[BowerR64]

RetiredUSNChief

Mines is 1/2 scale, to haul it I either take the back seat out of my van or haul it in the back of my truck. I made a wood box to hold the barrel, with the barrel removed I can load the carrage by myself.

SC45-70

woah thats half scale!? for some reason it looks bigger then that.

On the ground inftont of the cannon looks like full size foam cups that kinda made me things its huge like the wheels are like 36" or larger.

So how big are the wheels? your image makes it look like a pretty darn big cannon.

 

[SC45-70]

This cannon is a mountain howitzer on a pack carriage built off ordinance drawings scaled 1/2.

The barrel is slightly larger as I built it before I had the blueprints.

The wheels are 19 inches. I made them.

The entire gun weighs a little over 100 lbs.

That's the nice thing about using scale drawings, the size is hard to tell with nothing to reference it to. FYI the objects that look like cups in the foreground are the aluminum foil cartridges pulled from the bore after firing.

SC45-70

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Absolutely. My cannon is about a 2/3 scale replica of a 24 pounder off the USS Constitution. That puts it in about the same size range as a 12 pounder. If you didn't know better standing next to the cannon, without touching the body of the cannon itself, you'd think it was a real cannon.

Gives ya a warm, fuzzy feeling when people appreciate the work that went into the appearance and function. I'd like to make something like your mountain howitzer and carriage, but I'm running into problems preventing me...like storage space, for example.

 

[58limited]

Here is an 18th/19th century swivel gun for sale near me. Pretty rough shape, not sure if it is worth the $1800 asking price. Probably from an old fort:

http://www.southeasttexas.com/classifieds/detail.cfm?id=1100670&classified_code=antiques&zipcode=&distance=0

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Neat!

Swivel guns were used aboard ships as light, easily aimed mall cannon which could be used for a variety of uses, such as signaling, firing harpoons, or a last defense weapon, because they were extremely short ranged.

They were used on land, probably because they were extremely portable compared to their much larger and more massive cousins.

 

[58limited]

I was thinking it was most likely used at a fort, either military or civilian, but it could have been used at a well fortified camp or even at an early ranch. The history of this piece would be interesting to know.

 

[Kaeto]

It's condition mirrors one I saw for sale just yesterday that had been pulled from the Atlantic ocean.

 

[BowerR64]

Hey RetiredUSNChief, Have you tried any other type of carbide?

I got some different stuff from this cheapcarbide site and its slightly larger granually. The guy said bangsite (wich he sells also) is only 70% carbide but his is 100%

His is better but the wait is slightly longer. i wait about 2X as long for his to react compared to bangsite.

I use less because his is larger not as much fits in the little scoop. Ide compare it to 2F in size i kinda wish i had got a pound insted of 8oz

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

No, I have not. I don't know the composition of the Bangsite, or whether it's 100% calcium carbide or not. In the end, it doesn't matter if it's less than 100% or not: you're not going to get any bigger bang for the buck from using something else.

I chose Bangsite because it's already a fairly fine powder, which is more convenient than something that has a larger granular composition. It measures consistently and pours down the vent easily. The finer powder exposes more surface area to the water, so it very rapidly decomposes to produce the acetylene gas, meaning less wait time. And I don't have to worry about leftover larger granuals still decomposing after my shot and screwing up my fuel/air mixture while I'm setting up for the next shot.

Getting it in larger chunks/granuals means I may have to grind it down myself...which takes time and more equipment, which makes it less fun to shoot. Also, calcium carbide will react with humidity in the air and decompose over time; so if it comes in a larger can, each time you open it you expose it to some amount of humidity...and if you should end up not sealing the can well for long term storage, then the whole can could be bad the next time you want to use it.

Bangsite comes in these sealed aluminum toothpaste-tube style containers and you have to puncture the aluminum seal on the tube to open it. It's easily capped with a plastic cap, just like a toothpaste tube. The tube is a convenient size with plenty of calcium carbide to get several shots out of. And if you mess up and don't seal the tube properly for a few months, all you lose is what's in that one tube. All the others will be good for a life time, so long as their seals are still intact.

So what it really amounts to is a matter of convenience and cost. It's a fine powder, sealed well in conveniently sized tubes, and very easy to pour, measure, and use. It may or may not cost more than some other source, but if you have to do any preparation time for it, that rapidly figures into the overall cost, in my opinion.

If what you have works well based on your design, though, then obviously it's good to go for you!

 

[BowerR64]

I finally got around to painting one of them today, i took it to a buddys house and we shot it a few times im getting it dialed in. Im having the best luck with 1/2 teaspoon and waiting about 20-30 seconds for everything to activate.

I picked up some of those over sized tennis balls and they do fit nice! The first few shots with it were a little scary but today i really hammered it hard waiting till all the powder stop sizeling in the breech and i think i got close to 100-150 yard with it.

I was wanting to try and build one with 6" till i went to Lowes and looked at the 6" Tee that thing is WAY to big. For some reason yours doesnt look that big. I wanted 6" to 4" but this 4" to 3" is plenty loud enough IMO.

I took it to the local range and they said it sounds louder then anything anyone shoots up there. I wasnt sure how loud it was i was figuring 308, 223, 30-06ish its got a nice crack to it ill tell you that.

Yours still looks better but i like how mine turned out and i love how it works!

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Sweet!

About my 6" Tee, you've got to remember that mine was specifically designed to be a scale model of a 24 pounder, so everything is proportional to that. It's about 6 feet long.

Is that little red thingie the ignitor? I like that!

 

[BowerR64]

Yeah i kinda designed it to be hand held kinda and that is kinda the trigger.

Problem is those screw in caps leak water.


My original design was to put the water in a cup glued to the bottom cap and then the trigger hole was large enough to hold a shell on the end of the ignighter so the whole unit would come out and as you press the button you create the seal for the blast.

I had issues with the shell dumping into the cup and the water spilling out and leaking out the bottom cleanout cap.

So now whats been more reliable is tipping the small cleanout upright dumping the water in from there and it just sits down at the back corner. Then i use a long teaspoon and feed it in from the small cleanout and cap it quickly. You can keep the trigger up or rotate it down more like a gun and fire it that way. So far im about 10 shots for 10 with no misfires or duds this way.

I shot it about 5 more times today at the range and then a guy really wanted it so i sold it to him and went and got me some more parts.

I cant decide now if i want to stick with the handheld design, or go with a more cannon style like yours.

Im finding with this carbide i have not bangsite is 1/2 teaspoon and about a 10-15 second wait gives the best bang.

 

[BowerR64]

Oh and check this out what i found doing some searching on google for "carbide cannons"

This was in the June 1976 issue of popular mechanics, the post said something about the year this came out they had their highest sales of bangsite! haha!

I like the idea of the cleanout swab thing to replenish the air. That is a sweet idea! And the use of flour in the muzzle to give that realistic cloud of smoke haha!