How to Make a Cannon Ball Mold Part 1
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 29 янв 2025
- At a friends request, I set about to make a 1.092 inch cannon ball mold. This 4 part series shows you every step including how I made the homemade cutter for the cavity of the mold.
dude ! it was men like you that built this country , and i solute you sir that is the finest show of skill man ship i have ever seen !!! cool stuff thanks for sharing.
Y'know, it never occurred to me how much art and science went into the manufacture of old-time cannonballs. Something tells me it was a tad more complicated than casting lead musket balls.
Nice, very nice work here. I think the round ball is quite a bit harder to make than a conical. Conicals are either slick or grease groove and can be made with a simple plunge in or with a boring head into a pre-drilled cavity of the clamped together blocks.
This requires the blocks be separate and that is a whole different set of challenges. To pull this off well is impressive.
I would have pack hardened that tool. Any scrap 2" to 3" ID steel pipe, a cap on one end, steel plate set on the open end and the whole thing stood vertical in an expanded steel mesh basket. I picked up expanded steel mesh from the local tractor supply exactly for this reason and formed it into a tubular basket. I use a few rings of rebar tie wire to make rings and suspend the rings with more wire inside the basket to keep the pipe vertical.
Grind down lump charcoal to a powder and pack the tool and charcoal powder very snugly into the pipe, cover and fill the basket with more charcoal. Set the basket on the back yard BBQ/fire pit, add lighter fluid and let it soak.
Drop some electric cord and grab that spare circulating fan or better yet, my favorite is my squirrel cage floor blower, that thing really throws air.
Start your fire, get the coals all glowing as even as you can. Then set the fan to it. Keep your water hose handy, the heat created by the fan might set grass nearby on fire.
If you do this correctly, move and adjust the fan as needed and you feed the lump charcoal as balanced as you can the tube with your tool will glow bright yellow.
The longer you hold it bright yellow the deeper the case will be. An hour should get you between 1/32 and 1/16" of carborizing. Fine edges will take more than larger surface areas. Be careful, I prefer to hold at a glowing temp for about an hour but I quench dull cherry red to try to avoid warping, chipping, breaking and heavy scale. Try to be fast about it too. Even at lower temperatures if it's held in open air too long it'll scale like mad.
I've made tools this way to great effect.
Chris of the Clickspring channel has made tools and files from mild steel by case hardening them. Watch his videos to get an idea of what I mean.
I appreciate the comments, I'm putting this in my notebook with the other things guys have posted!
when case harden try to use oil use motor oil will work and use it beside water
It's fun watching you work.
Nice work man. Looking forward to part 2
To make the ball diameter perfect, machine the ball hole a bit deeper than needed then using your base jig as a level holder (check with dial gauge) surface the mating faces to the required depth. The neat part of this is you never have to remove the template base until all parts are machined so no alignment problems and quick change of each half for ball hole milling and surfacing. Be sure to mark the matching face of each half to avoid confusion.
To make mold halves, drill 4 holes in 1 block as template. Stack template block on top of 2nd block to be drilled and drill one hole through and insert a drill bit through to center and align while drilling other three holes. After making all matching halves clamp 1 into vice and use drill stock pins to keep all parts aligned while machining ball hole. you never have to move the template jig until done and all holes are perfectly aligned.
As far as setting your radius cutter up, measure your o.d of the fixture, divide in half, face a piece of round stock to that length,run the radius turner up against the chuck, use the round stock against the chuck to slide the cutting bit up to the center, then use a dial indicated with a flat tip to set your radius. I made basically the same radius cutter and that's how I do it. Comes out super close. I error on the large side then you can sneak the tip in a bit to finish the diameter if you need +\-.001. Good work!!
Thanks again, excellent advice from a pro!
I am not a young Man. Over 50yrs machine shop experience,including Armaments.Could have written a lot..You are learning more,yourself by just doing it,Wish you well.
Thank you sir!
I did try a motor oil quench first, then I tried water. Maybe I didn't have the oil cold enough, I don't know. I did get great results with Kasenit though.
I would personally prefer to have two different machines. The combo units are great for guys who are doing their work in an apartment and need to sacrifice setup time for floor space.
In my shop tour video I posted today I have a heavy duty wood lathe I would like to get a tool post and xyz table and a chuck, so I can turn small things. Good videos you have.
Thanks, I'll check out your channel as well.
i wana make small zinc balls with solderjng iron but i always get flat bottom plzz help i wana make bb metal balls
Different torches using different gasses require different distances to heat effectively, like if a propane torch is held too close to what you are trying to heat, the flame will be cold compared to holding it further away.
instead of grinding that releif in you could set it up in a 4 jaw (or shim in a 3 jaw) setting up the cutting edge as the smallest diameter then use your ball turner and cut it again.
Good idea, bravo.
way cool ! The guy who made my 2.25" mold used a cnc machine and a zillion steps. I was wondering how to make one with less fancy equipment.
Set your ball turning tool off the diameter you turned on your bar. Set the tool diameter large and then flip the tool bit back and forth 180 degrees like you would check center using a test indicator on a milling machine. You can always put shims between the bar and tool to get different sizes or use a test bar with gauge blocks.
great work very good channel
Hoooo e bem feito, de uma ferramenta a fabricar outras , bacana !
Have you invested in a machinists hand book? I'd suggest quenching in used motor oil next time it has a little bit of carbon that will help the surface hardness abit when using mild steel.
I thought this was an excellent video and you have a very healthy attitude towards advice and criticism. What is your opinion of Grizzly products and specifically their small lathe/mill combo units. Keep up the great efforts!
I THINK YOUR CUTTER, I BELIEVE CALLED A CHERRY, IS FANTASTIC!
and i would a 0 rake inserts when turn a ball because i never had the problem with one
8:30 You want a more accurate method of setting your tool?
Here you go.
Just a basic inversion of your measurements.
place the shaft of the calipers on the thick portion of the square, NEXT to the blade so that the depth gauge bit can slide past, but the main body stays "hooked" on the blade.
Extend the depth gauge bit until it contacts the tool bit.
now subtract the width of the blade(use the calipers to measure, since they're right there in your hand already).
could i suggest a makeshift furnace next time i believe ive seen people use one of those torches in a confined space made of bricks or some form of ceramic to melt metal , it was somewhere on youtube
You can use the air forging hammer with the half ball hollow dies to forge steel balls. that will be very simply. and also use the skew rolling mill. you can make more than 100 balls/min. you can search the skew rolling mill to find out Wuxi Suchuang Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd is a professional manufacturer of the skew rolling mill which is specially designed for making grinding steel balls.
+Xinchui Forging or you can open the skewrollingmill . COM to know more
You mention in text in your video of looking for an easier way to center your tool. Have you considered placing centers in your headstock and tailstock, bring them in to almost touching, and have your tool point at 90 degrees. Essentially just put all three points together, and you should be golden.
more videos your stuff is sooo good
You can't harden mild steel. There is not enough carbon to make it Martesitic. You have to add carbon with the case hardening process. You can grind up charcoal and bone, put your part in a steel box. Then put it in the fire. Carbon penetrates .005 per hour I think. It's in the machinists handbook. Quench in brine.
for heating your steel, have you concidered making a small forge/foundry? several videos here on youtube showing how to make them.
kidstoys
Shouldn't you heat up the steel until a magnet stops catching it?
Typically thats red or orange hot. Depending on the carbon content and what type of steel it is the magnet rule may not apply the same since the length of time you are required keep it at that temp. may be different. I wouldn't use the same rule for 4130 that I would for tool steel.
kids toys
How to make your own cutters and cannonballs from scratch-50 views, Justin Bieber picking his nose, or lipsynced dog, 841284936 views.
4:30 bits haveing a 3 some
A furnace of some type would have been better, thats for sure.
If you find this as enjoyable as i do, you should try reloading your own ammo, that is if you own a firearm.
I wish I could afford to have a cannon first then afford tools to make a mold for the balls.
Can you make me one and send it to me
you could make some great money doing this and selling the parts on ebay
I bought instruction from woodprix and I build it very very cheap.
Love your project. I made similar with WoodPrix instructions.
ใ
Can you make me one and send it to me