Many years ago I bought a large-scale Civil War cannon at a junk store. It had some hokiness to it and just last year I rehabed the carriage and the dry-rotted wheel spokes and made some minor modifications. With a fresh coat of paint it looked pretty nice. save for the barrel. Made of machined steel, it was in the profile of a bronze l2 pounder light gun howitzer barrel. I preferred something a little more modern looking. So, my first project on my woodlathe undertook the further transformation of my cannon into a 3 inch Parrott rifle.
Set-up was easy with a 15-inch length of 3x3 poplar.
Sawdust + chips = progress
The finished product in three pieces; barrel and left and right trunnions. The trunnions were aligned to the sides of the barrel and glued and clamped into position.
I drilled out the muzzle with a 5/8" spade-bit and hand filed the distinctive Parrott-style lands and grooves of the rifling.
Primer, painting, sanding, followed by three more coats of black paint produced this
Mounted up on its carraige this iron monster is ready to take to the field.
Next project? I'm thinking a 14-inch Rodman gun.
That's going to take a pretty large piece of wood.
stay tuned!
