Two brass swivel guns....

[davec2]

I started these guns many years ago while I was still in the Navy. They have been sitting under my workbench since 1978. I have been hard over on finishing up some cannon projects that have been hanging fire for too many years now. These guns are about 24 inches long and are currently cast solid. I bored the passage for the trunnions sideways through the castings. The machined trunnions will be furnace brazed in place and then the guns will be bored and lined with steel liners. The trunnions re 1 1/2 inches in diameter where they pass through the gun and the gun bore for the liner will be 1 1/4 inches. The liners are DOM 1.25 " OD seamless tubing with a 0.125" wall and welded breach plugs. The final bore will be 1 inch.





Not sure what I'm going to do with two more cannons.....but they need to be shootable before I worry about that.

 

[cynthialee]

I would love to take one off your hands, but I am still under a strict 'no cannons' order from my better half.

 

[Treestalker]

I'd love one too, but I'm from Texas and we all know cannon in pairs make better Sisters, LOL!

 

[deerstalkert]

I would love to take one off your hands, but I am still under a strict 'no cannons' order from my better half.

i must be married to your better half's sister! but the itch for a cannon is just about to kill me!

 

[Phil Coffins]

A man without a cannon is like a day without sunshine.

 

[davec2]

Had a chance to work on these two brass swivel guns again today. I got the trunnion brazed in one one. Just waiting for more braze alloy to come in before I do the second one. The next step will be to drill out the bores and install the steel liners.

Surface preparation of the cross bore for the trunnion to remove any oxides:



Trunnion prepared for the installation of rings of braze alloy by lathe cutting grooves:



Braze alloy wire installed in one set of grooves:



Once the trunnion cross bore and trunnion were fluxed, I hammered the trunnion into place and set the barrel up on my modified* BBQ grill:



Took about an hour and a half to bring the barrel temperature up to the 550 F required to get the Hi Force 44 braze alloy to run:



* I cranked up the gas supply pressure to get more heat out of the grill than is required for cooking....

 

[Rich44]

Very nice. Those trunnions are not going anywhere. Especially since you are using a liner. The 1 1/4 steel liner will you heat the barrel to 350 degrees and drop the liner in with a .003 interference fit. If so watch that it does not bounce. These are going to look really great when done, I like the profile.

 

[davec2]

Rich44,

Yes, the 1.25 inch bore for the liner is smaller than the trunnion major diameter of 1.625, so the bore will not even separate the trunnion into two halves. I'll put the liners in with epoxy. If they ever need to be replaced they are much easier to get back out.

 

[Captndan]

BBQ barrel. I like it.

 

[davec2]

I had a little time to work on these bronze cannon and cleaned up the trunnion braze joint on the first barrel.......



That process came out well enough that I set up the second barrel for brazing and got that done yesterday........



The long drills I need to bore these are on order and should be here shortly.

 

[davec2]

Long drills arrived...........

 

[Dismount]

Long drills arrived...........

Those are beauties I bet you could sell 60 just here on our website

 

[sgtsquid]

Have you tried using that kind of bit to bore out a gun? I did that with my handgonnes and always had a hard time with the bit wanting to walk to one side. This was just going in about 8-10 inches. I ended up using a boring bar to finish the bores.

 

[davec2]

Have not had trouble before. Let's hope this time it goes OK....

 

[Rich44]

These drill bits look new to me, the cutting angle should be the same on both edges. But a quick check can tell that. For drilling brass both cutting edges should have a couple light strokes with a med India stone. Just enough to take the sharp edge off, so the drill will not grab in brass. This way the tail stock will require very slight pressure for drilling and be much more controllable. I see no reason why a perfectly straight hole cannot be had. I would rather make my last cut with a reamer, just for the unified size and smoothness that is possible. You have done well so far.

 

[davec2]

Rich,

Thanks for the comments. Yes, the drills are brand new but I think the India stone idea is great. Will do before I start drilling.

 

[oldarmy]

Love them what are u going to use for the tillers?

 

[davec2]

Had an opportunity to work on these cannons again. A friend has a much larger lathe and I started to drill the bore on the first gun this afternoon.

 

[Rich44]

Just your ordinary home shop basement lathe.

Life is good !!!

Soft jaws, Roller steady rest, and a crank on the tail stock. Very nice set-up. Reminds me of the 22" Landis I had use of for 35 years at work.

 

[Dismount]

I started these guns many years ago while I was still in the Navy. They have been sitting under my workbench since 1978. I have been hard over on finishing up some cannon projects that have been hanging fire for too many years now. These guns are about 24 inches long and are currently cast solid. I bored the passage for the trunnions sideways through the castings. The machined trunnions will be furnace brazed in place and then the guns will be bored and lined with steel liners. The trunnions re 1 1/2 inches in diameter where they pass through the gun and the gun bore for the liner will be 1 1/4 inches. The liners are DOM 1.25 " OD seamless tubing with a 0.125" wall and welded breach plugs. The final bore will be 1 inch.





Not sure what I'm going to do with two more cannons.....but they need to be shootable before I worry about that.

cant wait to see them fire beautiful