How NOT To Cast A Historic Bronze Cannon Barrel. FarmCraft101
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 เม.ย. 2019
- Part 1: The good news is this was a test run to start with, because I need to test the tensile strength of the metal before I do the final pour. So this cannon was going to be sacrificed regardless. But I had a few issues, as you will see. Don't pour it this way!
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Make a traditional cope and drag mold with the green sand. Pack sand real good and add sprues to vent properly. Paint inside generously with an alcohol based ceramic paint for a very smooth finish. I worked in a foundry as a mold maker and that was our process for the cannons we poured. Cheers!
yeah, sprues make sense …. isn't there a liquid additive that is used to condition the mold sand ????
@@pondturtle4972 yeah there is its a fast cureing epoxy is all. That is why you need to work like hell to get it packed and level before it sets up.
The problem is the core, but they used to use molasses mixed with the sand before the green stuff. They used to bake it. Green sand semi-hardens all by itself.
I did a lot of work for a very large iron foundry. The owners said they really didn't process the iron, they processed sand and moisture. For every ton of iron they melted, they processed ten tons of sand.
Where can I purchase some Alcohol based ceramic paint.
@@garygordus4465 just look up foundry supply. Its a refractory coating.
"my two foot cannon is one foot long..." I've heard that before..
You win! Funniest Comment!
And, it's ribbed, for her pleasure
I've often heard the opposite..
@@goldbunny1973 depends on how drunk you are
09:12 "I'm not used to dealing with something that's so big"... I've heard that, before, too.
2 and a half minutes in... "I always see them use X but I don't have X so I'm just going to use Y."
...famous last words.
And then you go to the store to get some Y ... every amateur hobbyist project ever
This guy has the right attitude. Things went wrong, but he accepted it, even made it public for the rest of us to learn something. He made sure to learn all that he could from what happened.
He will succeed.
It's not a failure it's a valuable lesson so well done and keep it up I know you will succeed
Watched a video on cannon making the you tube video is made by masters of ineptitude hope this helps
They also used cores so as to NOT do to much drilling, and used techniques similar to bell casting
Dunno, might as well have googled bronze casting before starting. I think I saw them using clay around a wax model for casting church bells. The wax would be melted and drained before pouring.
@@rubenproost2552 yeah, also, the clay provide a sealed mould, and burying (as in digging an actual hole in the ground and fill in the gaps around the mould with very fine sand) would provide structural support. And also, provide a gas vent from the bottom outside the actual mould.
It can be done with styrofoam, but I'd do it as with lost wax, build a clay mould around it and pre-burn the foam out.
F.A.I.L. = First Attempt In Learning.
A fantastic video. Way more interesting than watching a solved problem.
But frustrating to have to wait and see what he did...
8:58 the reason it exploded is because of a localized steam explosion. As the surface cooled, it contracted which caused some molten metal to squirt out. That molten metal hit water and locally superheated it beyond vapor temps. That caused a local steam explosion that propagated thru the surrounding liquid.
Yep, I was going to say this with words that weren't so descriptive. I worked in a die-cast shop and we were shown just how dangerous any can or bottle of liquid can be when dropped in molten metal. If the container goes under the metal fully then the liquid turns to steam instantly and when a liquid turns to gas it expands. That much liquid expanding that fast explodes and the molten metal then shoots out of the pot just like the water did in the bucket.
I actually was working beside a machine that had water go into the pot through the gooseneck (that is a piece of metal that has a piston in it that pushes the molten metal from the pot into the die) and into the pot. There was zinc spray about 50 feet away in all directions. It splattered on the ceiling and the ceiling was about 30 or 40 feet high. Very dangerous stuff.
That feel when you scroll down and someone else has already said the same thing, lol.
No molten metal squirted out. Wtf. It simply flash-boiled the water around it, the bubble of rapidly rising steam carries the water above it as it rises and spurts everything into the air.
..Contraction.. squirting molten metal.. what the fuck, dude. Just no.
I mean. No. That isn't how metal behaves. If it's contracting that much it's strong enough to retain the pressure of the slightly warmer core. Like.... holy fuck this is dumb.
It exploded like the because the metal initially experienced the Leidenfrost effect, and a layer of steam prevented the liquid water from contacting the metal as a whole. The metal quickly cooled, the gas layer subsided, and the large amount of water then contacting the surface instantly boiled (cooling it further, the Leidenfrost effect stopped happening because there wasn't enough energy at the surface of the metal anymore).
Finally TH-cam recommends something genuinely awesome and that actually interests me.
The grain structure probably won't be obvious from the fracture surface alone. If you can grind and polish a piece to a mirror finish it can be etched easily to reveal the grain structure. Someone suggested a ferric chloride etch, 5 grams of ferric chloride in 96 ml ethanol and 2 ml HCl may do the trick. Alternatively a nital (e.g. 2% nitric acid in methanol) may work.
Good luck!
The water is brought to boiling point faster than the expanding liquids/ gasses can escape in the way it normally would, so it surges to the surface so fast it 'pulls' non-boiling water along with it when it breaches the surface.
You can cool the cannon from the inside out using a special mold when you cast, this will increase the compressive strength of the barrel. Besides that, reinforcement bands were used often enough for even more strength around the breech.
You remind me of AvE. I like how you explained the math and were very open about how you were TRYING this out. You are figuring it out as you go. That's awesome.
I was waiting for "keep your dick in a vise".
Denman Fite *maths
@@Jeffery_Saulter but do you keep your stick on the ice?
Denman Fite ask you mum
After reading some of the comments and replies thereto I feel that a little "Metallurgy 101" is in order.
Phosphor copper does NOT remove hydrogen from copper base alloys, it is in fact a deoxidant and is thus used to remove the ever present (In badly melted copper) copper oxide. In this case the zinc added via the brass would likely have already done that so the phosphor copper addition was unnecessary.
Left over phosphorous (and that is what you would have had) forms a low melting point eutectic with copper that is about as fluid as methylated spirits - it will rapidly penetrate coarse or loosely rammed sand moulds forming an ugly composite of sand and metal - (well, fancy that - sound familiar?) that is, as you found out most destructive of tooling.
The voids seen in most if not all home melted copper are NOT hydrogen.
Even when done well lost foam is not a technique known to produce the best quality castings. The idea is that the gases from the styrene escape through the sands and NOT through the liquid metal. Styrene has the general formula (C3H8)n. {EDIT, this is a mistake C3H8 is propane what I meant to type was (C8H8)n and in response to a request from a commenter I have edited this post to both correct and expose my typo. END EDIT} At the temperatures involved here some decomposition of the styrene is likely thus the gas bubbling through you metal did contain hydrogen, and some pick up seems possible perhaps even likely. In any case to assume that bubbles (save perhaps inert gasses) traveling through metal do not leave damage in their wake is foolish in the extreme.
"Linear Grain" - Hmm, that's a good one - Its actually called "columnar grain". It results from grains (dendrites) growing inward (into the remaining liquid metal) from the outside being constricted into growing in just the one direction (inward) by the grains growing alongside them.
Just a quick eye ball of that crucible and pattern told me that there was little chance of there being enough metal in that crucible to fill that mould.
The number on the outside of a (good) crucible is its capacity in Kg of molten copper brim full - you can always use that minus a bit in any calculations to see if enough metal is available.
I think that you were lucky that you did run out of metal as had you not I suspect the mould would have floated up (from the lowest box junction) and you would have got very wet and hot boots, moon suit or no. I would suggest that clamping or weighting the mould a much better safety precaution than one of those awkward and restrictive moon suits.
The gauge length on you tensile specimen was a bit short - actually a lot short.
This is not all that I saw but its all I have time for now. Fred
good analysis
@deuces roxy, Didn't need Cody's lab to tell me what was wrong here! Don't watch him much and have some doubts that he would know its such an arcane area. Also would someone please tell Farm that the word is "Cast" not "Casted". Fred
@@alterego4218 Well, cody is a college graduate of geology, so I am pretty sure he does know a thing or two about metallurgy. If you don't like people undervaluing your knowledge, be careful about doing exactly that to others. I do LOVE how you both 'never watched him', yet you also 'doubt he would know anyway'. With that said, I don't know you so I doubt you know anything and are talking out of your ass, as well.
LIttle bit of phospor/copper goes a long way. The more you over due it the less tensile strength, and the more brittle the metal. The vertical cast was too much weight and swelled your canon.
@@rich1051414, Ouch! Please be assured that I did not intend to demean Cody's lab in any way, while I am not a regular viewer I have watched some of his videos and did find them quite interesting. Note that it was not I who introduced him into the conversation. There is in fact a co-dependency :- where would metallurgists be if there were no geologists to find the stuff they work with and where would geologists be if there were no metallurgists to use the stuff they find? This mitigates against any mutual demeaning and if fact great respect exists, two sides of the one coin almost.
Back in my student days the metallurgy and geology departments were under the same roof, we were in essence the same department, there was no enmity between us and in fact we were united against our common "foe" 😊 the chemists from next door. The metallurgy and geology courses had some common subjects in the early years so each of us had a better than average smattering of the other's field. However, I doubt that the average geologist would know any more about say, the copper/copper phosphide eutectics effect on the fluidity and mould penetration than the average metallurgist would about which strata monograptus parultyimus would appear in and if it was an index fossil for that strata. (Although we would probably both know where to look to find out.) The point is that both geology and metallurgy are rather arcane subjects, Metallurgy perhaps the more so (eh, maybe not) and public ignorance and myths about them abound. The ignorance and myths are understandable and non- galling but what I do find non-trivial and I would expect that likely Cody would too is when people make factually incorrect "ex- cathedra" type pronouncements on these , "our" subjects. Subjects that they not only seem to completely misunderstand but also do not seem to have bothered with even the shallowest of research into.
Now regarding my science, I am quite happy to have my mistakes pointed out for that is one important way we learn. I am happy too, to enter debate, provided reasoned and reasonable, on a scientific basis but once the debate degenerates to pointless invective - well, nah not my cup of tea.
Stunning experiment......it’s been incredible watching your journey and learning every step of the way. I think the sleeve is the way to go....looking forward to the next instalment.
More book learning: I don't know about bronze, but with steel you polish the surface then etch it to see the grain structure. The grains may be microscopic. 100X magnification might be needed. Etching bronze might require nitric acid.
Tensile strength does NOT equate to allowable chamber pressure. You must use the thick walled cylinder equation to compute the radial stress.
I agree Michael. Cannons were cast in cast iron and its very poor tensile strength as little as 5000 psi.The reason their cannons didn't blow up was due to very thick chamber walls. But using too much powder and ramming wads and a heavy ball
can blow up very heavy walls.
@@meagain2222 they also used bronze for most cannons since those types of weapons til even the civil war era
@@meagain2222 As I recall the rough rule-of-thumb was: thickness at chamber to be at least equal to caliber.
Correct. I'm surprised that he wasn't aware, but as he said, he isn't used to large objects, the mass can lead to tricky 'oddities', as we've all seen. I would have been quite upset, he must have invested 30+ hours into this project, but you must use the right equipment and techniques, and most importantly, technology.
I feel so smart that I kinda understood what you said lol.
You have nowhere for the foam burnt gas to go, it has to come up through the same hole your pouring into, so the weight of the metal is allowing pressure of the burning foam to build and deforming the mold. Yes sand does allow some venting but packed sand on a large pour does not have enough to vent all the foam gas, Also you have the largest amount of metal on the bottom with the most heat trying to boil the foam gas and pouring bubbles through the area that cools the quickest because it is the thinnest. IMHO this is why the bottom stretched. I would add vent sprues 1/2 inch diameter and about every 4 inches to allow the gas to escape as you pour. and factor 25-30% extra metal for the pour. Also I would allow a slow natural cool of the casting like 24 hours. Hope that helps some keep up the good work!
Have to agree, on both fronts. Let it cool, and let it vent! Might also consider a steel liner, which is period ofr many canon.
Slow cooling will result in coarse grain.
OTOH, would VERY slow cooling yield a monocrystalline cannon?
:-)
@Roger Barraud monocrystalline casting is a very controlled affair that is actually controlled via ITAR. so even if he knew how (up until about 35-40 years ago it was considered a state secret) he couldn't have shown anyone how.
Not gonna lie...your 7:00 "explosion" actually scared the shit out of me lmao
EDIT: Also you don't need to use the little 4.5' grinder to grind this...that would take forever and like you said..use 50 wheels. Get yourself a corded 9in grinder and it would have taken care of this in about 5-10 minutes with only 1 wheel.
No lie, I jumped too! Hahaha
And in addition, don't try to use grinding wheels as cutoff wheels.
Scared the hell out me watching it at almost 4am! Thank you insomnia! 🤣👌
I definitely wouldn't dick around with a 9" grinder either. You can get a cheap 14" metal cutoff saw for like $50. It basically looks like a regular chop saw with a large cutoff wheel mounted. That's what us poor folk use to cut tough (i.e. 304 SS) exhaust pipes. A cold saw is too expensive, and a bandsaw takes forever. Nothing beats a metal cutoff saw for "quick and dirty" cutting.
Jesus Christ I flinched so hard when that happened.
Hey! I know I'm a bit late to the game, but that water explosion on your first quenching was just a bunch of superheated steam forming one big bubble around the cannon. The Leidenfrost effect took over, meaning that the hot metal was covered in a temporary sheath of insulating steam which kept it out of direct contact with the bulk water. Once that vapor film broke you got the distinctive "pop" of a bunch of water boiling instantly on contact and a huge steam bubble.
I cast my first brass part 2 days ago and the guy who guided me told me that, unlike steels, slow cooling makes brass really hard while quenching as soon as you can makes it much more malleable and soft. My guy has been a machinist for almost 50 years. But check it out for yourself. And, yes, my casting looked a lot like yours, sand coating wise.
I recall reading a very long time ago that they learned to cast cannon muzzle up so that the porosity would be in the bell and not the breech. They also cast the cannon blank a foot or more over-long, and the sawed off the top (front) foot, since that brass would be too porous to use. I was not particularly interested in casting when I read that, so I don't recall any more details. Possibly they did not know how to degas the brass at that time. It would have been interesting to take test samples from the bottom and top of your pour to see how much porosity you had on one end vs the other.
I've read that many American cannon designs were cast iron barrels with wrought iron reinforcing rings, parrot rifles are known for this.
I've found that coating my foam in sheetrock mud before casting helps keep the metal smooth and contained
11:40 the water jet guys will cut it for you PERFECTLY.
This took me back to high school when they had shop classes, learning how to do foam molding and casting, so many lessons in one video glad to see the good and the bad.
I can’t wait to see the cannon. I have a small signal cannon that is deafening but not the satisfying kind of boom a larger cannon like yours will produce.
Great video! Nice display of skill and ingenuity. I learned a lot.
Loved the subtitles and use of slow mo/fast fwd video. The CGI BOOM was hilarious.! 😂 Keep it up. Thx from Vancouver.
Those big metal chunks, their shiny surfaces are gorgeous. A great uncle of mine made bells using the same method. Great memories.
Tip from a former pyro: instead of hand-lighting a fuse and hiding, use an electrical ignition. You can run THHN from something as small as a 9-volt battery and then run it through a hairpin of thin wire, which will heat up enough to ignite primer. Sub out common model rocket igniters for the wire & primer and away you go - way, way over behind your rampart where you can watch it blow on camera when you connect the circuit instead of waiting on a fuse and wondering if it's going to go off or not.
Source: I had a lot of little pits burned into the backs of my hands from using professional fuses (which are made with bits of explosive in them so they won't go out, even under water - some of which fly off and burn into whatever's nearby), and after even a few of those didn't seem to go off when connected to 3-4" mortars, we switched to electric only so we'd not only stop getting burned but get to keep all our extremities if something went wrong. That, and bury the dang thing up to the tip in a bunker of wet sand.
, nice, good way to show whole process of failure and how easy it is for us with all tech we can use... :-)
Great video! Long story short....... many years ago (33 years) a family member was going to shoot a cannon off into a lake. I was quite young, not knowing how dangerous things like this are I was standing slightly back but between the boat house and the cannon. Just prior to firing, another family member called to me to get away from this cannon....... guess what happened.....
The part that blew out the side where I was standing and made a clean hole approx 5" through the wall of the boat house!!! I was very lucky!!!!! I am glad to see proper testing and safety precautions being taken seriously!!!
Your enjoyment doing this snuffs out any problems you experience. Good content
Bless You SIR, While I do not expect to ever try any tricks like this, your vid is great fun to watch. The foam flying out of the lathe was one of several highlights. Thanks for a very good production.
Fascinating, and a tough project to solve. I hope you could catch all the bronze chips and dust for reuse!
Tungsten carbide inserts on the lathe could have helped but they are brittle and expensive, so the sand could still have won.
Pour it horizontally. Use the foam as a form for the green sand but remove it before pouring. You have plenty of experience doing it this way.
But the denser parts of the metal will sink to the bottom, so one side of the cannon will be stronger then the other, and this can cause it to split or blow out on one side.
@@archieperry2266 Try raising 5-10 degrees off horizontal. Maybe a different alloy with less zinc. Gunmetal is typically -proportions vary but 88% copper, 8-10% tin, and 2-4% zinc.
@@archieperry2266 , somehow that sure doesn't agree with all the comments advising him to do it horizontally.
I love the fact that you showed your mistakes! Most people don’t realize the work and trial and error that go into a nice project
Just found your channel and I can't wait to binge watch on my day off.
Casting in sand requires the sand to be pretty tightly compacted all around-not just immediately adjacent to the shape. Especially with such a tall casting you want to make damn sure that the sand won’t budge when the foam vaporizes. I’m not sure that sand would even be the best choice, maybe use a fine clay or plaster shell around the foam with packed sand to support the shell.
The explosion in the water was from the hot metal vaporizing the water similar to why you don’t add water to hot oil.
Also, in 1500 the cannons were beyond sketchy...exploding cannons was pretty par for the course and often was more common than not. There were some interesting stories about how they were tested before field use.
"Also, in 1500 the cannons were beyond sketchy...exploding cannons was pretty par for the course and often was more common than not." Hence, the requirement for proving ["proofing"] the cannon was up to snuff before acceptance, the rise of govt. proof houses, etc. etc. BTW, wrt to casting in sand: am thinking that a permanent mold made out of ceramic would be the way to go with this [thin shell supported on the outside by sand]; he's right about casting muzzle up, since all the gas bubble rise and you wind up cutting off the top 20% of the barrel before finishing... [At least, I think that was the old rule?]
If you ever worked in a foundry, you learned to fear the steam explosion.
the blade that just wont die xD your humility and willingness to learn and ask questions is brilliant to see :)
Great video. Very few great inventions had success the very first try. Love to watch your progress. Thank you. 👍🏼
The linear grain is probably due to the direction of solidification. The metal will begin to solidify along the edge and the crystals will grow toward the center as it cools. Your grain pattern will be in an axial pattern. You can also do a macro etch to see the overall grain size and pattern. A common macro enchant has hcl (commonly called muriatic acid) and ferric chloride. Use caution and good ventilation before mixing and using
I was going to suggest etching for a look but this is a better description than I was going to use 👍
I don't recommend the general public to make up and use metallurgical etchants. "Caution" is not adequate, you should have also eye protection, skin and clothes protection, ventilation as mentioned, and a legal or at least safe way to dispose of the materials after use. One reasonable review is at blog.rings-things.com/2011/12/safety-considerations-for-etching-metal-with-chemicals
I bet those fissures were from the foam boiling/gassing out. There was no vent for the gasses to escape.
I recon the same
yes that too
Gas is vented through the interconnected porosity of the sand mold. That's one of the upsides of using sand casting rather than a permanent mold.
He got lazy or what ever and made a weak mold. Metal is heavy and that weight pressure is what pushed the sand out. I wouldn't think the gas pressure was the greater of the two pushing on the sand. He didn't pack the sand remember. I also think it was why so much sand stuck.
@@whitewwjd9009 I wouldn't trust that, the conditions have to be perfect for that to work well enough to release that much gas
I love these kinds of videos. Its like you're learning from someone else's mistakes and the way I figure, learning is learning.
Man! The fake explosion at the pour scared the heck out of me in my headphones! lol
It looked just visually that there was no way that crucible held the same volume as the foam cannon blank.
I guess he just wanted to do the tensile test.
Very true. Didn't even consider that...
As others have observed, as I watched you and you said "I wonder what sort of problems I will have..." I knew right away because I saw your foam - no sprues.
There is a channel called Black Beard Projects. He casts large pieces of aluminum, and those videos illustrate the idea of a sprue and how it works. There is one where he makes an axe which will be particularly instructive.
Good luck! I will eagerly await the next attempt!
Rather than consulting the Black Beard Projects (and by no means am taking away from any of the work he has done) but I think “the old foundry man” channel would be of far better consult. The gentleman who has that channel casts all sorts of items and provides a great deal of knowledge about what he does and why and the work he produces is top notch.
Had forgotten about this build, YT just auto started playing this series after another melting vid I was watching this morning. I've been doing a lot of foam stuff lately and like your hvac setup there to keep foam from going everywhere. I'm doing CNC of stuff instead, but those little chips/pieces are everywhere for sure!
Horizontal casting, and chimneys. When I worked at a sand-casting foundry, I picked up a few things. When you're doing a large, long lost-foam cast like that, You're not only dealing with a lot more pressure than you need to, but also pressure from gasses when the foam burns. More chimneys also help expulsion of pockets, even out the effects of thermal contraction when cooling off, and moderately expedites cooling.
Also, strongly prefereable to do split molds if you can. Seal the foam, use it as a plug and do a 2-part mold. That way you can use a binder in the sand and torch it before clamping the two parts together, giving you a much smoother casting finish.
Fascinating stuff. Maybe cast horizontally with a multiple manifold entry pour and many gas escape ports?
Dont quench it, let it cool slowly. Will give you a stronger metal.
Quenching has no effect on a gunmetal alloy. Other than introducing additional thermal strains that probably don't help strength.
Really respect the work and effort you put into this project.
Bloody hell - I recoiled so fast from that 'explosion' I pulled my headphones off
Absolutely fascinating - thanks for letting us share that with you
The explosion was a steam explosion. Steam is thousands of times larger in volume than liquid water, and can expand at rate similar to a detonation/exposion (depending on temperature of the source). Steam explosions can be very dangerous. If you wish to avoid steam explosions, like what you experienced, switch to a different liquid than water with a boiling temperature above 212 F. Ideally, find a liquid above the temperature of the metal, i.e. metal temperature 400 F, use a liquid with a boiling temperature above 400 F. I hope that helps.
*If you add coal dust to the sand that contacts the metal you will have a much smoother finish. They sell the sand commercially or you can grind up coal and add it. There are some good youtube videos on how much better the rests are but can't think of the name at the moment* After seeing your finish it looked exactly what the coal dust fixes.
Plumbago (fine graphite) is normally used for bronzes - NOT coal dust. Coal dust is used in green sand moulding for cast iron where 15% can be added to the sand/clay mixture. Sorry but after 50 odd years in ferrous and non ferrous foundries I despair at some of the well meaning comments on metal casting like re-discovering the wheel.
Honestly this gave me a great idea, the part where it looked like a tree stump is perfect for what i want to do, im trying to make some metal garden knicknacs for a present for my parents and now i can finally make a stump base from molten scrap to mount the finished sculpture. Damn thanx man!
This was the best “failure “ video I have ever seen. When we stop making mistakes we stop learning. I just subscribed and look forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks
I'm not into metal working or anything, but this was fascinating!
For safety rather than lighting the fuse and run, get a firework igniter. MJG has consumer ematch now that doesn’t require an explosives license. You can run two wires to a battery and be far away when it fires.
One trick is to use a low wattage resister at enough voltage to greatly exceed it's limit. A 100 Ohm 1/4 Watt resister should blow nicely at 12 volts. Of course you need an easily ignited powder to work with that.
not sure who MJG is, but there are electric matches for model rocketry that would suffice nicely
@@speedbuggy16v I've used them for so many experiments that the guy behind a counter has to think I'm either young von Braun or working for Hizballah.
Or get fine steel wool, a box of 9 volt batteries, a large electrolytic capacitor rated for the voltage of all the 9 volt batteries in series, and a 100 ohm resistor rated to short all the batteries in series. Wire up a wisp of steel wool to the output of the capacitor through a high current rated switch. Wire up the battery to charge the capacitor through the resistor with another lighter duty switch. Discharging the capacitor through the steel wool will make a fiery explosion guaranteed to ignite black powder.
Most fascinating project I've seen on Utube in years . Great !
Here's a thought . Determine the volume of that foam by immersion in water. In the bathtub or whatever , mark the high point and measure the volume of water it takes to reach that point once the foam is removed. That will be the volume of metal needed. Then calculate mass accordingly .
The old time black powder was less strong,We had some old rock salt size when I was a kid,less pressure for civil war cannons!!!! Thanks for the videos
In my experience the older black powder was probably better. The black powder you can get today doesn't manage to pass the 16th century quality control tests.
@@laurenceperkins7468 well maybe it don't pass a test I don't know, but in the 16th century it was probably brown in color and mostly wasn't corned,just a mixture and not in the same proportions, I use a lot of 4th of July powder from aerial bombs,in my flints and caps guns!!! Thanks for reply,good day!!
@@jacksnavely559 The old test was to put a four-finger pinch worth on a sheet of paper and touch it off. If the proportions are correct and it is mixed sufficiently well it should burn up entirely while neither scorching the paper nor leaving any soot. Modern commercially-produced black powder leaves a fair amount of soot.
This test, of course, was for powder intended to be used in guns and bombs. Rockets you might well change the proportions quite a bit depending on what effect you're going for.
Just seeing the size of the crucible, I was wonder how it would have filled the cannon size you made with the foam mold in the first place. It didn't look like enough physical volume for the foam cannon you turned on the lathe. And that answer was, it won't. I have to agree with making a green sand setup and pour it in a horizontal fashion rather then a vertical setup. That way the weight of the brass itself isn't forcing the sand out of position. Also you could use some vent tubes to assist in that pour to equalize the flow. You could even make a sodium silicate sand core to insert in the center to help with the hole once it is poured. And allow the pour to cool off for 24 hours. That way it helps control the brass to cool on it own and not crystallize from a quick shock cool down. JMHO
subscribed, like to see people that upload the unsuccessful videos, a lot of info to take away from them. cheers mate
This reminded me of my father who was a furnace-man (cupola tapper) in a small foundry. I remember seeing all the slag mounds and him coming home like a robot with bits of metal all over, the dangers of furnaces even today. He used to get called out to re-build the furnace every time it went out -- money wasted etc..
Your mysterious explosion was probably a steam explosion. Killed a lot of steam engineers back in the 19th century... also, large crystal structure is weaker than fine. As to green sand, I'm pretty sure you need to add a little diatomaceous earth to the mix.
Foundry's don't like water at all
Ah yes, good ol' boiler explosions... locomotives before water injectors were doomed from the start. Axle pumps just didn't cut it. Check valves got clogged from minerals and limescale buildup. Not enough water in the boiler made the walls of the firebox melt(They were only kept from melting by the water that should be surrounding them!) and would scale the crew to death with scorching steam. Or, even with injectors, perhaps the fireman wasn't paying attention to his water glass, or the water glass was clogged... water gets too low, metal heats up and expands, suddenly the fireman adds some water and what is depicted in the video occurs... inside a 100 foot long pressure vessel rated for 300 psi steam. Boom.
When you get around to test firing one, I would use a model rocket igniter. Much safer and more reliable, unless you use professional fuse.
In the UK you would send the barrel to a Proof House who fire it with an excess charge to test it. If it passes then a stamp is applied to show it is OK to use.
great vid, can't wait to see the cannon. I think you are taking the necessary precautions.
And thus, the fuckupium alloy was discovered.
No kidding! why add brass to gunmetal?
it changed to BREAKUPTONIUM.
@patrick dean did you check his shorts? bet he had a run in them!
RoughStickium
The vertical position creates too much pressure on the sand. Can you use plaster of Paris? Can you design a horizontal rig with pouring flues along the barrel? Interesting project.
I've had a good result dipping the foam into reduced drywall joint plaster, the one that's made out of fine fire clay, 5-6 dips were generally enough and let dry for a day, leaves a great finish
I remember doing lost foam casting in junior-high, (many decades ago when kids could do those things in public school), . Still have a small VW beatle that I carved out and cast. We used a very fine oil based sand but we were casting in aluminum. Not sure if that would matter. As chainsaw says below, sprues were added to vent. Really loved watching this. Wish there was a place to go and pay to cast something identical to this, (cannon - I want one),. This time - I'd pay more attention to the teacher, lol. . Cheers.
Hey man, you don’t need to divide your tension by 2. (I’m a current engineering student, I could be wrong) the tension held is equivalent on both sides, so the central part that broke had opposing forces of half the tension pulling on it, meaning it withstood the total 40k psi, not 20.
Alex. No twenty was correct
i dont get why he divides it by 2.......
Seems wrong to me too.
@@mysticdavestarotmachinesho5093 well it is wrong.
@@TheEhrnberg I admit defeat. LOL
The sand didn't look like it would keep its shape once the foam was gone. The sand I've seen used in pouring metal was much finer grain and very compactable.
The sand used for metal casting is a blend also consisting of Bentonit, oil and other substances. You just don´t use just mere sand for that.
Traditional green sand will be sand mix in with some clay which acts as a binder. its moisten before shaping and when dried, the sand mold will keep its shape without the need of a solid pattern to support it.
2:50 in on the first video i've ever seen from you and I had to subscribe! I'm excited to watch more content.
The physics involved to measure strength very interesting. I use to work for an asphalt company and sometimes visit the lab where the same processes were used in determining strength and correct amounts of materials.
be careful!.. engineer that cannon to approx 3 times the pressure is needs just to be sure you don't blow your face off. great vid brother..
Accurate composition of the alloy is of the utmost importance, 88% Cu, 10%Sn, 2% Zn = Gunmetal.
Aah, I thought it was 90 Cu and 10 Sn. Never knew they used Zn in it too, or perhaps later. What sort of flux is best and at what stage should it be added? I expect after the Cu is melted and before the Sn and Zn is added.... Please advise. Cheers, D
@@Igotknobblies Check my comments above.I believe they used borax mostly to flux.
Enjoyed the experimentation. 'Tannehill' Alabama performs hands on re-enactments of the blast furnaces, castings and demonstrations during certain dates each summer. A fascinating State Campground with museum and period village, not to be missed by those followers of history.
Comedic AND informative... excellent! Thank you for posting (and not using a music track).
Great info .thanks for no music
I actually made the same thing. I casted it out of copper and used lost wood casting. This kinda is my own invention, however this works perfectly. Video will be out at some point. 😅👍🏼
My heart sank when I heard the boom. (Browser was minimised)
I cast an aluminum death star once.. about 4" diameter.
Cooled it off in running water for a few and then set it down.
It was cool enough to handle immediately after the water.
Picked up a few items lying around.. went to pick it up again and the piece was so hot my skin sizzled when I tried to pick it up.
Internal temp. Transferred out and it was quite the lesson.
This series has got me super interested in cannons now lol, amazing
Some of the water very close to the hot metal is heated up quickly at alteres shape from liquid to gas form. (Steam)
As steam´s volume is factor 1000 to water, - it expands and pushes away the water around it which makes it splash all over like an explosion.
Awesome video bro, very informative I learned a lot loved the textile strength parameters
Where I grew up a farmer was rebuilding an old windmill, to make a new gear he used a box of wet sand, not dry. That was cast iron, and it was a gear about 18-20" that was missing a couple of teeth. He used it to make an impression in the sand then rotated it and did it again to eliminate the missing teeth, and it worked! No foam, just sand and cast iron.
You made a great video. I like learning about metal work. I think not super wet but wetter than your sand would have dried on contact with the heat sucking it away from your mold.
I seem to remember adding molasses to the sand and later Co2-ing the mould before casting and you have no vent/filling sprues
Not molasses. Sodium silicate solution. Yes it looks like molasses but it's not made of sugar. It hardens by being exposed to CO2.
I'm pretty sure the moles would object.
Foam doesn’t fully burn off, ALL green sand is very essential. Hard pack is essential. ...understanding the physics of what you’re doing...best idea
Yea understanding the chemistry better is also recommended
I’m annoyed I didn’t find this channel sooner, it’s perfect
Although I'm a little older than Harry Harris I also worked in a foundry when I was a 18. At the time we were casting aluminum lawn mower body housings and any defective castings and scrap was stored outside where it was exposed to rain and snow. There we three crucible style furnaces side by side in varying stages of the melting process. Eight workers in the foundry including myself received varying degrees of nasty burns due to an serious explosion in one of the furnaces. As workers were aware of the danger when adding new scrap to the furnaces so they would dump scrap from one scrap bin to another before adding it to the crucible in an effort to dump out any excess water that may have pooled or captured in the hollows and voids of the scrap. Due to the size of the explosion an investigation later determined that a complete, but scraped, lawn mower casting must have filled with water and then purely by chance, another complete casting added later on must have accidentally aligned perfectly with one shell going inside the other (like one soup bowl stacked on top of another) trapping the volume of water between the shells. When the water came in contact with the molten metal it instantly flashed into a steam explosion. The forklift driver adding the scrap to the crucible got hit with a wave of molten aluminum receiving burns over 60% of his body. He spent several months in the hospital and ended up on disability. Unfortunately back in the 60's other than heavy gloves and goggles we didn't wear full body protection or hats of any kind. NET: Whether it's molten metal added to water or vice versa then result is the same. (this link is not to a video of my accident but presented the same general result - th-cam.com/video/sIJmwF1Qs7M/w-d-xo.html
The English Crown employed Adam Dreyling, a top skilled Austrian cannon builder from Tyrol who engineered the cannons able of a significantly higher range and precision than the ones of the Spanish Armada. A main reason for their victory back then.
NO mate the Mighty WINDE did BLOWE up the English channel & they could not return! the ARMADA was to pick up Parmas ARMY as wot were a killing of the wicked Dutch apostate heretic nonbelievers, I think they did @ 30000 only 90000 to go But they fell down on the job ,And missed the boats (armada) so they were not able to massacre england.! Actually BOTH sides cannon were not adequate for the job anyway but the brits guns WERE a bit better than the Spanish ones. read up the recent books on cannon history & religious wars Pretty aweful stuff! which we are getting ready to repeat ! Safer to machine up a length of an old army surplus gun barrel if you really want to shoot it! By the way DO NOT use BRASS its copper & ZINC avery weak alloy. Now COPPER & TIN thats BRONZE or "GUNMETAL" as it is nearer strength of good iron, take care too much tin can become BRITTAL, thats why bells crack A Fair try but the moulds MUST be strong not tamped loose, good luck but learn to do good research or you will get hurt! THE wind saved the british as did the Kamakazi the japanese "Divine Wind" Gun stuff is fun BUT new Brain science is great also take care!
@@richardbruce8111 True the wind and tides in english waters the Spanish weren´t familiar enough with also played a role.
Another fact worth mentioning is that the English were warned in advance that the Armada was going to attack and thus could get prepared. It wouldn´t surprise me if it were the Portuguese (England´s oldest ally in the world /Windsor Treaty 1386) who gave them the information.
Since the Portuguese Avis Dynasty had ended the Spanish took over in 1580 Portugal and the Portuguese Armada which made Spain´s naval forces twice as powerful. Portugal which initiated the era of naval discoveries restored its Monarchy only in 1640 and it was reluctant about attacking England and becoming the junior partner of shortsighted Spain under which by the way Portugal suffered the first big losses of its Empire´s territory.
I was staring so intensely at my phone the mock explosion kinda got me
Academic metallurgist watching this old video. Brass does what is known as "twinning" its where parts of the crystal reorient to accommodate the strain/stress you are applying to the sample. Twins are long in structure and usually cross the grains and can propagate through grains when the orientations match. Also with how quickly you are loading these samples it enhances twin formation as dislocation motion (standard deformation mechanism in steels and aluminum) take longer than twins to accommodate strain. Normally i would be taking a few minutes to do each sample, as strain rate is another variable to consider.
Anyway wonderful video and I really enjoy watching you experiment. Makes me long for a giant farm to tinker around in.
_"Ok, so that didn't happen..."_
I'm not ashamed to admit I fell for it for 3/24th of a second. I'm also not ashamed to say I thought the circular saw was borderline suicidal.
I hope your next attempt shows up for me.
THIS is how engineering videos should be made. Explanations of the process, acceptance of failures, investigation of the failure, asking for input and not pretending to know everything, human face and voice narrating, no crappy music. A delight to watch. As an electronics engineer I have not the slightest idea what he is talking about though. Now make one that works :)
that wood blade is impressive!
intrigued..you obviously have a lot of spare time on your hands but use it in a fascinating way , wish I was there helping and learning.
If there was a mistake that could be made, this guy made it.
I hope it doesn't happen but the first time he has a real accident he is gonna get seriously hurt. Like ambulance lose a limb/go blind hurt. He at least needs a buddy there to dial the phone, cause losing his fingers would be a godsend compared to what kinda trouble he keeps narrowly avoiding.