Coytee Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 1. I've got a cannon, yes, a cannon 2. Muzzle is roughly 2 1/2" diameter 3. It has a cannonball stuck roughly 75% down the muzzle 4. Can't budge it too much, have tried pressurized air behind it but not sealed enough and the air blows by 5. It DOES have a hole in the ball. Don't know why it's there. We'll call it .125" diameter and maybe 1 1/2" depth Looking for ideas on how to extract the ball. In the beginning, it was stuck about 50% down, but I sprayed some PB blaster, soaked it, tapped it and got it moving a bit, it slid further down and now, the air gap prevents pressure from helping to push it out and, it won't move. Looking for ideas!! The picture of the ball in the barrel is BEFORE I used the PB blaster and got it dislodged. Also before I used vaccume to clean it out AND before it got dislodged and pushed deeper down. You can see the hole in the ball. I can still see the hole so I'm thinking it slid verses rolled deeper down I was thinking on taking something (like a coat hanger) but more stiff.....friend of mine has some stainless steel (welding) filler wire but I've not gotten it yet. I have NO way to access behind it to push it out other than air or stuffing individual grains of gunpowder down the ignition hole. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Liquid doesn't compress like gases do... Is the projectile ferrous? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 It looks like a tough job with as dirty as the barrel appears to be on the inside. Have you thought about hairspray like a potato gun? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanksjim1 Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Kano Aerokroil Penetrating Oil (+ maybe heat the barrel a bit?)...barrel sloping down 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 13, 2022 Author Share Posted June 13, 2022 23 minutes ago, Schu said: Is the projectile ferrous? Nope, magnets don't stick. Friend thinks it might be bronze or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelwjones Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 10 minutes ago, hanksjim1 said: Kano Aerokroil Penetrating Oil (+ maybe heat the barrel a bit?)...barrel sloping down Any chance of standing the barrel onto its muzzle after you liberally apply penetrating oil inside the barrel & behind the ball? Time and gravity may work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 13, 2022 Author Share Posted June 13, 2022 22 minutes ago, Invidiosulus said: Have you thought about hairspray like a potato gun? I had not!! That's interesting. Other than maybe lodging it tighter than it is. I might like that idea!! The barrel is much cleaner now than the pictures shown, but it's still icky in there. The PB Blaster has drained a lot as I tip the angle down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 13, 2022 Author Share Posted June 13, 2022 Issue on standing it is, it's hinged and is VERY heavy. I've hoisted it (single handedly) three times now and want to avoid it if I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grindstone Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Yeah if you don't know a chemist for something really crafty, my hunch is to figure out how much libation supply you have and call some buddies to get it tipped. Anything thermal and you might hose the structure and make yourself a schrapnel-generator. Something super-high frequency would take too much energy for that much stock. I'd try the slippery or penetrant angles, but I'd work really hard to find a real chemist because preceding substances (in event of failure) might limit successive options. Absent any of that, you can find gun drilling services at certain tool and die shops--a hole through the projectile might let it all move enough to release a little. If nothing else, those guys have arbor presses and stuff to pop it out, too. I don't know anything about cannons, though, which is why a chemist to steer some acid just weak enough to not harm much makes sense. If I didn't care about it so much, I'd plug what I could around the ball, tilt it, and pour a liter of coke in there and walk away for a couple days...I don't know if CLR etc would be too strong of an acid not to have to flush pretty fast. It's just too much material to heat, too. Bottle-jack plus extension? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWOReilly Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Ok. Long drill bit. Long tap. Slide hammer. <shrug> 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Tons of WD40 over several days or even weeks. Then maybe compressed air above the ball (should be a hole to light the cannon). Need all of the crap out of these. If rusty, maybe start with white vinegar to dissolve the rust. If this does not work, heating the cannon while trying to keep the ball cool should free it up. However, you might crack the cannon casing. Other option is to drill holes in the ball but time consuming, lots of diamond bits and you might wind up damaging the casing if the bit walks off course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 This post reminds me of this: https://www.google.com/search?q=x+ray+of+stuff+stuck+in+people's+***&tbm=isch&ictx=1&fir=Lrb2rKPXljHs_M%2CukisvJ-ss-g7sM%2C_%3BY0cPBRzEkQ_giM%2CODQ8o7CQLQWYAM%2C_%3BBDX-OeAmThFVOM%2CODQ8o7CQLQWYAM%2C_%3BTnO0LWNEVY3NlM%2CODQ8o7CQLQWYAM%2C_%3BaExwg3C0dQwcdM%2CSWxsFxPPPGEL1M%2C_%3Bn7EzJyhY5Dth9M%2CVxqsEUB5gXI7AM%2C_%3B4DQjksLd7TrtQM%2C4g5acsj26KeZLM%2C_#imgrc=4DQjksLd7TrtQM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 WD40 is the last thing I would use. It creates rust after about three weeks just like brake fluid. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelwjones Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 22 minutes ago, grindstone said: Yeah if you don't know a chemist for something really crafty, my hunch is to figure out how much libation supply you have and call some buddies to get it tipped. Anything thermal and you might hose the structure and make yourself a schrapnel-generator. Grindstone has the right idea: figure out how much libation supply you have and call some buddies to get it tipped. I mean, when was the last time your buddies got to say "Hold my beer & watch this" around a cannon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Sorta like the hairspray idea but use automobile starting fluid. We used to call them tennis ball cannons. Small hole in bottom of metal 3-tennis ball can. crimp the perimeter of can about 2" up from the bottom so the tennis ball got "stuck". Starting fluid in the bottom of the can (if night time on top of the ball from the open end too). Kid with drawing the short stick had to put the match to the hole.....boom! Tennis ball would go about three stories up. Flaming if night time as a match had to go in the open end as well as the hole at the bottom. Tomorrow's physic lesson - Draino bomb! Gather up a glass bottle with a screw on top (the thicker the glass louder the boom) some aluminum foil, water and of course Draino. I can't believe I ever made it to driving age. Absent the success of starting fluid I'd configure a Block and Tackle to raise the @$$-end up with the open end facing down, and lightly raise/lower the open end on a cement garage floor. I bet the tapping will dislodge it....or crack the floor. Long drill bit and an "easy-out" (broken bolt remover)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWOReilly Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 17 minutes ago, rplace said: Sorta like the hairspray idea but use automobile starting fluid. BOOM!!! Brutal.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 1 minute ago, CWOReilly said: BOOM!!! Brutal.... If I didn't lose any body parts with a flimsy metal tennis ball can, I can't imagine anything would happen to the cannon even with its advanced age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWOReilly Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 2 minutes ago, rplace said: If I didn't lose any body parts with a flimsy metal tennis ball can, I can't imagine anything would happen to the cannon even with its advanced age. We'll hope not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 13, 2022 Author Share Posted June 13, 2022 1 hour ago, CWOReilly said: Ok. Long drill bit. Long tap. Slide hammer. <shrug> I've got 10 cannon balls, my hope is to end with 10 instead of 9 Cannon has been in family for probably 50 years and I recently brought it home from Dad's (age 92) so in a perfect world, all stays intact....BUT, drilling the ball HAS already crossed my mind so if it's the only/final option, it is what it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 1 hour ago, JJkizak said: WD40 is the last thing I would use. It creates rust after about three weeks just like brake fluid. JJK How bad is it stuck? I have had seized bearings on control arms that took over a week of soaking in WD 40 to loosen up. I cleaned up all of the WD40 afterwards and greased the shafts. If this is just lodged in a little biting the scale of the rust, tip the barrel down and shoot it like a potato gun several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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