How to attach sabot?

[bebloomster]

With any luck I am within a couple weeks of making smoke and fire again. My half scale Napoleon has been sleeved down to a golfball bore... now it is time to make up a few solid shot rounds for it. Cutting suitable plugs from a good grade of plywood is no problem at all, a 1 7/8" hole saw yields a "wheel" within about 1/8" of the size I need. Glue 2 of them together and lathe them down to the proper size. Then use a 1 1/8" spade bit to create a cavity for the ball to set in.

Now comes the question... how to attach the sabot to the ball. Do I want it to remain attached to the ball until impact or do I want it to be discarded after leaving the muzzle? Permanent attachment would be no problem, just run a sheet metal screw up through the sabot into the ball. For a discarding sabot though I am thinking either a couple pieces of masking tape holding it all together or perhaps a bead of silicone sealer between the sabot and the ball.

Any suggestions?

 

[mckutzy]

maskingtape should be good.

 

[slowpokebr549]

I have had the displeasure of taking apart many sink tops that folks have used silicone on. Don't do it. That stuff is forever, your sabot will never separate. Use Red Green's solution, duct tape.

 

[mike alexandre]

We use masking tape.

 

[musketman]

I'm wondering if a few drops of super glue might hold in in place until fired... :hmm:

 

[mike Mathison]

Where do you get the Golf ball size solid shot?!?!? Me Likey!!!

 

[bebloomster]

It's a 1 pound "cannon ball" fishing weight... found the mold at Hilts Molds