My South Bend barrel

[zulu]

Here is my 36" long, 1 1/2" bore South Bend Barrel.
I built the split trail carriage as well as the wheels. The wheels are 36" in diameter but are not dished. :idunno:
This gun lives in my house in the foyer. When I open the front door, this is the first thing I see. :shocked2:
I'm not sure if I am allowed to talk about the building process here but I do have some "in progress" pictures. Moderator?
Zulu

 

[Rifleman1776]

That is a thing of absolute beauty.
I'm not a mod but I do belive your in progress pics would be of much interest here.

 

[buzz]

ZULU i be of interest to see the pics if the mods wont let you post send me a PM and you can send via email

 

[cynthialee]

That is totaly what I had in mind when I told my sweety I wanted a cannon. This is exactly what I was told I am not allowed to have.

Do you ever fire it?
What's it like?
Whats the maximum range?
Let me live vicariously through you please...
:haha:

 

[zulu]

I have only fired blanks in it.
I used 3 oz. of 2F and it sounds great! :thumbsup:
Zulu

 

[zulu]

I am going to go out on a limb and post some carriage build pictures. I hope they are okay to post.
Zulu

Cutting and shaping the spokes for the wheels

Glueing the wood for the hubs

Turning the hubs

Drilling the hubs for spokes

All parts for wheels finished

Side cheeks ready to fit to axle

fit metal work

paint and assemble

It guards the front door

 

[patrickh]

Great pics. Great that it is a firing model. Did you forge the straps or is it flatbar? Nice work.

 

[zulu]

The straps are all 3/16" flat bar that I ground to shape with an angle grinder.
Zulu

 

[Rifleman1776]

Awesome! :thumbsup:

 

Very informative. On your wheels, how do you fit the tires?

CP

 

[zulu]

Claypipe,
I have read the proper way to fit the tires is to heat a pre-welded ring and drop it on, allowing it to shrink as it cools.
This is not the way I opted to do it.
In this case, I had my 2" X 3/16" flat strap rolled into a 36" diameter circle.
I wrapped it around the felloes of the wheel and cut off the excess so that the two ends had about a 3/8" gap between them.
I then welded a small piece of angle to each end. Each angle had a hole in it. I connected the angles with a 1/2" bolt through the holes.
When I tightened the bolt, it drew the two ends together. All the while I hammered around the tire with a heavy mallet to seat all the spokes as tightly as possible.
When the two ends of the tire met, I welded the seam and quickly cooled the weld with water so as not to burn the wood.
Then I removed the bolt and ground off the welds on the angles.
The result was a very tight tire with no loose spokes.
I used no glue in the process.
After the tire was set, I drilled holes through it and the felloe for a through bolt in six locations. Also at this time I drilled and installed the felloe splices.
It is an extremely strong wheel.
It is not dished as it should be.
The dishing process is a very involved procedure that requires angled tenons on the spokes. I opted not to do it on these wheels.
Zulu
Michael

 

[trent/OH]

The carriage appears to be white, but computers sometimes change colors of things. How did you choose the color?

 

[zulu]

The carriage is white.
There was no rhyme or reason in the choice. I chose white because that's the color I wanted. :idunno:
Zulu

 

[Col. Batguano]

I thought you were only building wooden replicas? Or, is that a different Zulu on the GBO forum?

 

[zulu]

I am the same "Zulu"!

 

[RocklockI]

I have met Michael and enjoyed a 'few' adult beverages with him.

I can say with much certainty that there is only one Zulu.

Gary