Restore or Preserve 1750s Cannon - Thoughts

Dosing

Dosing

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I bought this cannon a year ago, and it has taken that long to determine that it is likely a commercial gun, likely for a commercial vessel, or even privateer (so it needs a naval carriage thankfully, not a field carriage). I was unable to identify it further, as it has no markings at all. After contact with a few British experts the consensus is that it is a British commercial gun, from as early as the 1730s, but mid 1700s for sure it seems. There is a 'gut feeling' I have about a possible past user, but with no way to link the two I am left with a rough looking 600lb-ish 6 pounder.
Another problem is that with no maker to pin it to, I cant be sure how rough or pristine this would have been when newly made.

I have the means to get this thrown on a large lathe, should I so choose, which would make 'cleaning up' much of the outside a breeze, and allow me to crisp up the exterior. The bore is worn, but unpitted, and I think with minimal effort I could get the bore ready for some 'fun' charges.
In truth though I am on the fence, and after a year still cant decide on a path. If it had a clear distinct history I would leave it as is, but with no ascribable history I have been leaning towards a quick re-trim, rather than maybe just a nice black epoxy-type coating. I figure the other option is a light blasting and a nice thick coating, which would likely smooth out the exterior, rather than taking any material off.

Refinish-Trim?
Sandblast-Epoxy?
Clean-Paint?
Other?



How it looks:





How I would like it to look (maybe, but maybe not)

 
I say conserve the exterior and work on the bore as needed. It's got a pretty nice patina as-is, and looks great. Failing that, sandblast and epoxy. It's a beaut!
 
Cleaning the outside of this cannon up in a large lathe is not an option. Cleaning up the bore in the lathe would require a smooth surface, or, a temporary collar for the steady rest.
If it has a large diameter bore, perhaps you could epoxy in a piece of pipe with a plug welded in the rear. For the rest, sand-blast and paint, the outside looks great.
 
Leave exterior as is and build a carriage /ship mount to your preference.

For the bore, to clean it up, I would build a plug affair with an emery cloth riding surface on a long shaft and turn a few passes through the full length of the bore with drill power... or line with a smaller I.D. dia heavy wall pipe machined to a tight slip fit.
 
I'd make a split ring that can be bolted over the front of the barrel and cast a bondo shell centering the ring on the barrel. That'd give something for a steady to ride on. Then I'd chuck it up in the late and clean up the bore. I'm not sure I'd do anything to the exterior.
 
Maybe a cylinder hone on an extension to clean up the bore, if you end up not being able to mount it on a lathe? As long as it isn't much larger than 4" it should do a good job. May need a couple sets of stones...(or use a ball hone)

I'll vote also for sandblasting and painting the exterior - the new automotive urethane based paints should work very well on this, I wouldn't worry about trying to smooth it out if it were mine (adds character)...

Can we ask where the heck you found this for sale? I'd probably buy it too if it was in front of me.
 
Saw a number of similar pieces in Cartegena last year and they still had a smooth cast finish like the photo with carriage. My own preference would be that and I don't think sandblasting gets that smooth. Because you cannot prove history on the piece you don't harm any historical value. IMHO! Nice find tho' Cheers
 
wr.sainsbury said:
Saw a number of similar pieces in Cartegena last year and they still had a smooth cast finish like the photo with carriage. My own preference would be that and I don't think sandblasting gets that smooth. Because you cannot prove history on the piece you don't harm any historical value. IMHO! Nice find tho' Cheers
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Correct, sandblasting (in my experience) normally just knocks off the rust. Surface stays rough. It usually isn't a fast process either.

Smooth would look better, but (to me anyway) the rough surface tells everyone it's old. If I had an original piece like that I'd not want people thinking it was anything but - that's just me though - do as you wish it'll be a great project either way.
 
Doing anything to the outside but cleaning and repainting will ruin it as an antique, and that means much of the value would be gone as well. Blasting is a bad idea IMO. Electrolysis would clean the bore the best of all methods, if the gun is set upright and the barrel filled with electrolyte and an iron cathode suspended down the center of the barrel. The same method could be used for the exterior, with less cost and potential for damage. More importantly, with electrolysis, markings may become visible that blasting would "blend" so much as to make them invisible. Make up something like a super heavy duty barbell stand to support the gun vertically on the trunnions. Then it can be tipped up to empty and pressure wash out the barrel, which may have to be done a couple of times during the electrolysis process. Caustic might have to be used first to remove old paint from the bore, if any. Don't use any oil of any kind on it as that will interfere with the electrolysis.

Enlarging the bore anything more than 1/4" or so will be quite noticeable and would also detract from the value. Mounted on a proper replica carriage as/is it would be worth a great deal as a curiosity/decorator/bragging piece. Messed with, not so much IMO. It will go bang just fine now, but stone or metal balls would not be smart if there's any chance of them lodging in the bore on firing.

If in doubt, don't; just like "restoring" other old guns. ;)
 
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wr.sainsbury said:
Saw a number of similar pieces in Cartegena last year and they still had a smooth cast finish like the photo with carriage. My own preference would be that and I don't think sandblasting gets that smooth. Because you cannot prove history on the piece you don't harm any historical value. IMHO! Nice find tho' Cheers
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Disagree with that statement. Just because it has no "provenance" doesn't mean it isn't historically significant and have some collector value that should be ruined for an esthetic purposes. Guaranteed someone somewhere will come up with a foundry/country of origin for the tube.
 
This may be giving you trouble finding the history but that doesn't mean that someone in the future won't be more lucky. So I'd go with those that are saying to leave the outside alone and just clean up the bore.

Given all you say about the condition I'd opt for something that actually takes a very light cut and that will result in a straight and correctly round bore. Stones and ball mop hones will smoothen the surface. But such things wander with the more general imperfections. It would be far better to actually create some sort of tool that will ream away the damage and clean up both the roundness and straighten any variation.

Usually this means boring in a lathe. But in this case you'd have a two foot or longer boring bar. And that's never a good thing. Instead I'd look at the idea of making up a three tooth uneven division angle reamer that will both surface and true the bore. Options for making such a tool will vary based on the actual dimensions.

As mentioned by some here the outside surface has been reformed by the rust that occurred over the decades of poor care. Sand blasting will not fix any of that. It won't smooth out the surface. It'll just give you the same finish with a raw grey metal surface. To smoothen out the surface you would need to turn or otherwise machine or work the metal. And that would be a crime since you'd be removing the signs of the history of this piece.

I'm not some museum curator or history nut case that says we should never touch any of this stuff other than to preserve it. I'd be all for working the bore to make it useable at least as a signal cannon. But I'd stop at the idea of removing the external signs of the jaded history of this piece. It is what it is and it should stay like it is so it can tell its story to others. It may be a sad tale of neglect but it's still the barrel's story and we shouldn't toss that away.

If you have the proper tools for restoring this barrel then you could also make a nice shiny NEW barrel. If you want the smooth look then that the way to go is to produce your own new barrel.
 
Seems to be a general 'paint it' theme, which I can live with. I was partially curious what folks thoughts were with an eye to the future. I would like to trim it up, but that means permanent modification just to please me, and I was wondering how folks would view that down the road, not in regards to resale value, just in regards to the history of the gun.
Sandblasting was not intended to smooth out the exterior, just get the dirt and debris off for a good coating, and likely it wont be sand, something lighter I think.
I will have to look into whats available, and reasonably durable.

The bore is well worn, very well worn, but wont likely get anything more than a good cleaning and some form of very light sanding to get the last layer of dirt out, as it is in almost pristine shape compared to the outside.


I hope people are right, that one day someone will be able to track this gun, but it seems unlikely. I have spoken and contacted experts at various national institutions both in North America and Europe, and there seems little information on commercial guns like these. I know a Privateer from 1812 who had 6pounders lived just a mile or two away from it, but linking them hasnt been possible.

NorthCoastBigBore said:
Can we ask where the heck you found this for sale? I'd probably buy it too if it was in front of me.
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Through a post on CGN. It was advertised not far from one of my old homes in Nova Scotia, and there was a link to the ad via a post in OT of all places.
 
It would be one heck of a conversation piece if it was sitting at the front door. I can just imagine the look in those pesky canvassers that show up right at breakfast on weekend mornings if you had that and just stepped aside so they could have a view down the bore..... :D
 
Dosing said:
Sandblasting was not intended to smooth out the exterior, just get the dirt and debris off for a good coating, and likely it wont be sand, something lighter I think.
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My thought with sand blasting is that at least some of the roughness of the outside appeared to be layers of paint and that sand blasting would strip those thick and thin spots back to bare metal. Once bare there is a tannic acid solution (I think that is what is in it) used on steel boats out here than forms a somewhat non rusting surface oxide before the paint is applied. You paint it on and the steel quickly goes black and the solution is used something like a primer

cheers mooncoon
 
I can remember reading several years ago about "soda blasting".

Similar process to sand blasting, but uses a softer material. It was in a hot rod or 4x4 magazine, and they were patching rust holes in the cab of an old army truck. The soda blast removes rust, but isn't abrasive enough to remove good metal underneath. From the pics, it looked like the metal underneath ended up as clean as if it had been sand blasted.
 
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