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cannon finish question

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pipestone

32 Cal.
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I'm building a small 20 inch naval. I requested my barrel builder to not paint my barrel black like he normally does. I was thinking a blueing or browning would look nicer. What was traditionally used in that era? Also, I'm building my carriage from American white oak beams out of a 150 year old barn in middle tennessee. What was the oak finished with? Was it left raw or what?
 
Pipestone,

The iron barrels of sea going guns, in both the British and American navies, were painted black. The iron hardware of the carriages was also painted black. The wood work of the carriage was also painted but color schemes varied somewhat. Grey was often used in both navies. Sometimes a red brown was also used by the Americans. French gun carriages were often a medium blue (the color of the Burbons and the color that came in with the Gribeauval artillery system) and, during the Revolution, the Americans began to adopt that color as well.
 
If I was to brown the barrel would that be inaccurate? I'm told they normally used something called stove black.
 
Pipestone,

You could brown the barrel...I'm sure that when the painting was not kept up the iron barrels of cannon would turn brown with rust.

Real "stove black" was a mixture of pigments and waxes that required a "burn off" after application. The cold stove was cleaned, the "black" was applied and buffed like boot black, and then the stove was lit to "season" the stove's finish. I don't think that process would have been very practical for cannon. Paint was the normal finish on iron guns.
 
I'm a traditionalist but my wife is a bit more modern so this thing is going to double as decoration and my personal wants. I don't like the idea of modern paint. Do you know how they would have made the stove black? My common sense tells me that they would have taken the soot water and used that as paint but I don't know. I wish I could do a marbled bone blue but I'm not willing to take the risk of damage.
 
Stove black or stove polish is available. The brand I have is MasterPlumber. Paint it on, allow to dry for 1 1/2 hrs, then cure by heating to above 450 degrees F. Result is a hard, matte finish. Not sure where I got it, probably TruValue.

Ed
 
davec2 said:
Pipestone,

The iron barrels of sea going guns, in both the British and American navies, were painted black. The iron hardware of the carriages was also painted black. The wood work of the carriage was also painted but color schemes varied somewhat. Grey was often used in both navies. Sometimes a red brown was also used by the Americans. French gun carriages were often a medium blue (the color of the Burbons and the color that came in with the Gribeauval artillery system) and, during the Revolution, the Americans began to adopt that color as well.
YOu get a big thumbs up from me. :thumbsup: they were painted black. That a peek at all civil war guns(cannons) at any of our military parks, and museums. I wanted to brown my 2foot 1" bore swivel gun that I made, but after research I found out that it was painted black. o thats what color it is. No biggie, I can live with it. I also have a 1" bore 1/4 scale cannon that I bought recently and rebilt the carriage. The carriage is government green.---but unfortunatly the barrel I have to live with it's ben chromed.
 
I kinda doubt that Navy cannons were ever allowed to get rust of any kind on them.

The Navys idea that everything metal except brass and bronze things MUST BE PAINTED isn't new.

Paint's cheap and thousands of man hours are always available to chip and repaint on board a ship so it's only to be expected that the Captain would expect everything on board, including his guns to be ship shape. :)
 
BUT, what it ultimatly boils down to is this: It's his gun and he can paint it, or not how he wants. I will say this that small gun of mine being chrome(even though not period) sure is purty sitting on my coffee table. I should give you a description. it's 26" long tampon to carriage trail tip, 12" wide, and 15 inches tall. All brass, copper, nice and shiny, and all wood painted. Barrel is 13inches with 1" bore. Fires a 1/2 oz. charge behind a 4oz lead slug.
Jus go for it. There are not enough of us small/scale cannon shooters out there, and we can use every one.
 
I saw no one telling pipestone that he shouldn't go with his original plan to blue or brown his cannon barrel.

He did however ask, "What was traditionally used in that era? ".
 
No, I guess you took me wrong.
I didn't want him to think that I(speaking for myself)was carping at him , that he was doing it wrong. And that he shouldn't do it that way. I told him how it was done and what I do, and then told him to go ahead and do it the way he wanted to.
If I didn't come off that way then blame the lack of one on one and in person conversation.
 
I definitely know what a black scale cannon looks like but I can't seem to find any that are blued so it's hard to decide. I just think it would look really nice. I agree that the black would probably be the way to go in terms of accuracy. I wish there were cannon enthusiasts in my area where I could look over some examples and get an idea of how it will look.
 
I see no reason not to blue the gun. It would probably look good. If you don't like the look you can always paint over the blue.
 
That's a good looking mortar. I do like the blue. I guess it can't hurt to try bluing. That's a lot of surface to cover with it. I haven't even received the barrel yet. The builder said I should have it in about a week. I'll post pictures when it gets here.
 
Not that it would be historically correct but Krylon BBQ & Stove Paint is a nice flat black, high temperature paint that could be used on a cannon.

If too much is bought, it even works nicely for painting a BBQ or a wood smoker. :hmm:
 
That is what I used on mine.
It must be PC because it requires repainting after each sustained engagement. Looks good when fresh.
 
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