Author Topic: 24 Pounder-A,K,A, 85 Pounds of steel on a diet, (Read 2134 times)

john pike · « **on:** November 22, 2005, 08:39:04 AM »

First,
The dam things HEAVY, i was having trouble with my live center on my tailstock, it was flexing, i had to drill out my center holes, with a hand drill,
so i was "off-exact, center"-GRRRRR, finaly got it spinning smoothly,
My son helps me flip it from end to end,
i dictate, and he grunts, and turns red, as i take my sweet time on the tailstock, (i use plenty of wood on my "ways") i wait till i see his elbows start to quiver, and tighten things up,,,im cruel,

second,
This is my first try at grinding my own HSS bits, fun art in itself,

Third, im having as much fun as you can have, (alone)
My wife has to drag me away for dinner and bed, (has anybody seen the news, ive missed watching the depressing newscasters, and all i see out the window is cold fog, mixed with rain,) oh well,

The pics are pritty much self-explanatory,
ive got it almost all roughed out, the part where the taper starts has slowed me down,

i didnt bore/drill it out first this time, as i cant get the dam thing in my
steady-rest,
so ive put it on a diet first, i had swath, and chips up to the bottom of my chair, before i stopped and cleaned up, (got a few poking through my clothes) so i had to stop,

ive left 1/6 of material overall, and am planing to go back through,
from back to front and do the finish turning,

the "24-Pounder" project on the website gave me the insperation,

the last pic is of the five toe- "BOSS" he sits on my stool, and watches me,
and the machine, gets pissy and tears the seat up, when the swath flys by,
(i need to get him some gogggles,)

johnp

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #1 on:** November 22, 2005, 01:19:16 PM »

Off to a good start!

Flexing eh? Nothing like pushing the equipment a little - as long as it's safe and gentle cuts.

I usually have a couple of my cats come and visit me in the shop when I've got the garage door open - but they soon leave as soon as it gets busy or noisey.

john pike · « **Reply #2 on:** November 22, 2005, 01:33:07 PM »

yup, it wasnt the tailstock, or shaft, but the "live-center"
im guessing its a cheap one, it came with the lathe,

johnp

Quote from: Cat Whisperer

Off to a good start!

Flexing eh? Nothing like pushing the equipment a little - as long as it's safe and gentle cuts.

I usually have a couple of my cats come and visit me in the shop when I've got the garage door open - but they soon leave as soon as it gets busy or noisey.

GGaskill · « **Reply #3 on:** November 22, 2005, 01:36:05 PM »

You sure the center was flexing? Could it have been the center wasn't far enough into the center hole?

freddo · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2005, 12:29:45 AM »

Fantastic! I have just been working on a couple of pieces of steel about that size.I used a live centre that was a hell of a lot bigger than yours and it was a lot deeper into the work piece than yours even then I kept a very close eye on it to make sure it was tight and turning I kept thinking about what would happen if it came loose-scary.
Keep up with the pictures they are fascinating.Wish I had a camera.

freddo · « **Reply #5 on:** November 23, 2005, 12:40:04 AM »

PS Wish I had Boss watching me.I would'nt make as many mistakes.With that look I'd be too scared to.Cats are wise they know! and they don't suffer fools gladly.

john pike · « **Reply #6 on:** November 25, 2005, 03:24:53 PM »

a couple of new pics,
first one is of the tapering setup, if you look at my tailstock, youll see its "way" over, to get the angle, my son and i spent four hours re-building it to get it to slide over enough to get the right angle.
then theres the 2X4's, wedged in the "ways" in case things came unglued,
i figured if it cam apart at the seams it would at least spin up on the 2x4 and spin away from me, or just spin up and drop back down,
im turning it at 200, so its relativly slow,,,

as luck would have it, my "dead-center" i made up for the chuck,
galled, i noticed the tail end of the cannon wobbling, went through the whole setup,
and finaly tore everything down, saw the center was toast,
re-ground and heat treated it, and did my last two passes,
the small angle between the rings were a bitch,

the second pic is after re-straightening everything out and filing it all smooth and poishing it out with some 3M pads, i start on the breach area in the morning, im leaving the breach ring smooth untill after i bore it out,
ill use it for my steady-rest.

i know "G" will see my mistake, i was bummed, i had what my desease calls a "brain-fart" and messed it up, so im a half inch short on my length,
and i didnt have enough meat left to fix it, so i started off on a bad foot,
my detailing isnt as detailed as "G's", but im happy with it, and from 6-feet away nobodys gonna notice it, good thing im not selling it as a exact replica, nor will i sell it,

johnp
,

Powder keg · « **Reply #7 on:** November 25, 2005, 04:19:59 PM »

Just call it a John Pike, limited Edition, Signature series, and make sure you sign it. Everyone will want one :-D :-D :-D Lookin good! It's not as easy as it looks, makin stuff out of metal. But your doing good John. Later,

GGaskill · « **Reply #8 on:** November 25, 2005, 04:45:37 PM »

I must admit that I can't see any obvious problem. I thought the muzzle swell might be too long but it looks at least close compared to mine. Depending on what the problem is, it might be fixable by welding.

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #9 on:** November 25, 2005, 04:56:52 PM »

Lookin' good John!

Don't sweat the small details at this stage! You're doing it right - planning, doing, revising, correcting. The next one won't be unfamiliar and will go faster and better.

The important thing is that you're thinking through each step before you do it - I'm impressed with the 2x4 'safety' pieces - just because I have dropped a large piece of iron when I shouldn't have.

john pike · « **Reply #10 on:** November 25, 2005, 08:14:34 PM »

OK ill give it up,
the first set of bands, that step down,

there suposed to be .5 wide, NOT, i measured the gap, of the bands,
to the back of the band not the front, so i lost .5

i lost a half inch there,
and another half somewhere else, dunno, ive checked till im blue,
the muzzle, is cut to the specs, 2.924 after the band to 2.426 to the front of the band,
it looks skinny to me too,

my trunions will be at 11 inches to center instead of 12 inches,

but dam im havin fun,

johnp

john pike · « **Reply #11 on:** November 26, 2005, 04:48:58 PM »

heres a couple of new pics,
i got the muzzle-swell finished, i power-fed the tool and free handed the the cross-feed, till it looked right,
then i took my favorite tools to it,
rough,medium,and fine, files, 5 hrs, today, a record, for me.
next ill be boring
johnp,
ar we havin fun yet,

GGaskill · « **Reply #12 on:** November 26, 2005, 07:42:10 PM »

How are you going to hold the muzzle end when drilling the bore?

john pike · « **Reply #13 on:** November 27, 2005, 06:22:31 AM »

Quote from: GGaskill

How are you going to hold the muzzle end when drilling the bore?

ill use my steady rest, thats why i didnt finish the ring on the barel-swell.

john pike · « **Reply #14 on:** November 29, 2005, 05:05:39 PM »

DONE,,,yipppieeeeeeeee,,,,

my 1-1/6th hole is drilled,,,,,,
finished,,,,

7 hrs ov drillin,(1 hr cussin out the operator,)
,im dizzy, and my seats full of sweat,
,
and next time im weldin the bits to the extensions,

on to TRUNIONS,,,,

johnp happy cannoner,

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #15 on:** November 30, 2005, 12:13:18 PM »

Quote from: john pike

DONE,,,yipppieeeeeeeee,,,,

my 1-1/6th hole is drilled,,,,,,

....
....

on to TRUNIONS,,,,

johnp happy cannoner,

Sounds like a title for a book.

john pike · « **Reply #16 on:** December 02, 2005, 11:55:38 AM »

got my trunion pockets milled out and the trunions pressed in,
awaiting for monday, i found a guy to mig them for 25.oo

i also got my steel pipe today for the wheels for my carrage,
what do you guys sugest for paint or finish on them,

itl be rolling on my driveway once in a while, under fire,,,, :lol:

also does anybody have a pic showing all the hardware, and
how it works, on the carrage? tie-downs, chains?? eyehooks?

johnp

GGaskill · « **Reply #17 on:** December 02, 2005, 12:20:05 PM »

How's this:

From the USS Constitution website.

john pike · « **Reply #18 on:** December 02, 2005, 12:34:55 PM »

Quote from: GGaskill

How's this:

great,,,
one shot every two minutes,,,

man thats moving,, i wonder if anyof them, got a hearing/vertigo- disability,

musta been quiet a racket in a fight,

johnp

john pike · « **Reply #19 on:** December 04, 2005, 08:18:58 AM »

went to my muffler/machanic, asked him if he could do a 10 minute under the table job for me,
he said come back in a half hour,
went back and he asked what i needed welded,
i told him,,,,A Cannon,,,,, :lol:
that got his attention,

brought it in and he welded the trunions up, asked him how much,
he told me nuthin,,it aint everyday someone walks in and wants a Cannon welded,
one of the guys there asked me "whats it for?"
i couldent think of any logical awnser as to why one would build a cannon,
, so i told him i had some trees out back that needed to be shot down, and i didnt have a chainsaw,
im shure ill be a late afternoon beer story,

now to clean it all up, and primer-paint it,
id like to "blue" it but ive read it doesnt look good,as its hard to get a uniform finish,

ive got some brass-paint, but it looks like just that,,,brass paint,

so i guess itl be black paint,

Powder keg · « **Reply #20 on:** December 04, 2005, 09:07:14 AM »

Dang! Than looks good!!! Gettin closer to pictures with smoke every day :grin:

CU_Cannon · « **Reply #21 on:** December 04, 2005, 02:23:30 PM »

Wow that looks great. You havenÂ’t been here long and you already have an arsenal that many dream of. Great work!

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #22 on:** December 04, 2005, 03:25:11 PM »

Quote from: john pike

went to my muffler/machanic, asked him if he could do a 10 minute under the table job for me,
he said come back in a half hour,....
....

John - you've got it figured - how to get things done!

I used to tell my students (when I taught college) that 50% of life was attitude. (The other half is attitude.)

Come on smoke!

john pike · « **Reply #23 on:** December 05, 2005, 12:50:33 PM »

I decided on black walnut for my carrage,
got it all roughed out,
and my steel rims turned,,what a pain, it was steel pipe, and i coulda swore, it had sand or cast metal in it, i was getting metal dust all over,
and the bits did funny things pulling swath,

but i goterdone,,,,grin,,,

i ran outa black walnut so my wheels are gonna be outove spruce,
maybe ill laminate blackwalnut over the faces,,

Santa Dave · « **Reply #24 on:** December 05, 2005, 02:36:58 PM »

My Grandfather tought engneering abord the Constellation on middie summer cruises. (And something of him must floating around in me somewhere 'cause THAT turns me on!)
Santa Dave

Double D · « **Reply #25 on:** December 05, 2005, 05:22:00 PM »

Quote from: john pike

I decided on black walnut for my carrage,
got it all roughed out,
i ran outa black walnut so my wheels are gonna be outove spruce,
maybe ill laminate blackwalnut over the faces,,

Don't worry about running out of walnut, no ones going to see it under the paint...are they?

john pike · « **Reply #26 on:** December 06, 2005, 02:04:16 AM »

Don't worry about running out of walnut, no ones going to see it under the paint...are they?[/quote]

Hmmmmmm,
i dont see too much paint on the realy nice cannon in your avitar pic,

johnp

john pike · « **Reply #27 on:** December 06, 2005, 02:09:25 AM »

Quote from: john pike

Don't worry about running out of walnut, no ones going to see it under the paint...are they?

Hmmmmmm,
i dont see too much paint on the realy nice cannon in your avitar pic,

johnp[/quote]

Oh ya, forgot to mention,
after 4 yrs in the USCG,
I HATE PAINT,
specialy GRAY paint, White, Paint, cromium,somthin or other,
red-lead(aka red death)

and have no tolorance to paint scrapers, and sandpaper,

I do still like the ocean,,,,

jp

Double D · « **Reply #28 on:** December 06, 2005, 04:35:23 AM »

Yep, no paint, due to lack of knowledge during construction.

In two years when the gun is scheduled for refurbishment the oversight will be corrected and the truck will be painted in the correct color. Nobody figured out the correct color yet. I'll have to bring that post BTT.

Can understand your dislike of paint. The Marines gave me the same dislike of shoe polish and brasso.

GGaskill · « **Reply #29 on:** December 06, 2005, 06:48:27 AM »

Can't remember shining a pair of shoes since I got out of the Army (1972.) Dust them occasionally, polished my combat boots (not shined) after outings, but no spit shines.