Another Cannon

You have better eyes than I.
Save the photo to your desktop, rotate it 90deg counterclockwise and blow it up. I think I was at about 250%. Then back it back toward 100% and it will come out. The F is pretty clear, there appears to be a space, then the 2 is dark gray, a space, then the other 2 (very faint), and room for several more characters.
 
Save the photo to your desktop, rotate it 90deg counterclockwise and blow it up. I think I was at about 250%. Then back it back toward 100% and it will come out. The F is pretty clear, there appears to be a space, then the 2 is dark gray, a space, then the other 2 (very faint), and room for several more characters.


I can see that there is something there. Any opinions on removing the paint and not damaging the inscription - maybe light applications of acteone.
 
I got permission from the powers that be to restore the signal gun. I had asked the National Park Service at the Springfield Armory for some guidance on restoration. 4 phone calls and 2 visits later still no reply. The last time I went in the young lady at the desk said she knew I had made many inquiries and she would make sure someone got back to me with an answer.....Never happened.

I went this morning with wire brushes and scrapers, acetone, etc. hoping to take 10% or less of all paint. Once I started there was no end to flaking and rust. If I am lucky I will have 10% of the paint that doesnt need to be replaced. After mechanical scraping for 2 hours I went to Home Depot and picked up some stripper (her name was Lexus, but that is a story for another day). Seriously, I tried it on the base and it seemed to work good. I am going back in the morning to strip the entire cannon.

I picked up a nice primer by Rustolium which is specially made to arrest rust.

I have not decided on a piant yet but I was thinking of going with Rustoleum again or a marine paint.

Pics of "Before" will follow.

My wife is doing some landscaping and planting. Another work in progress.

Spec
 
A before completion but after some paint removal
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Perhaps, with some research and detective work, you can find a 501 (c) 3 historical preservation group that would donate some funds for the preservation work you would like to see done.
J.


I know but at the end of the day, I decided I wanted to to it myself at my own expense. You get other people involved and sometimes they take over. I have permission, no one else had any interest, and Im glad it went that way
 
She's looking a great deal better already, keep up the excellent work.
 
When I took off the paint there was an orange base or primer layer. Under that was some writing on the barrel (written by hand), which I cannot decifer. Was it traditional, in the ACW, for crews to make inscriptions on the barrel of a cannon? I will get pics soon.
 
She's looking a great deal better already, keep up the excellent work.

Im really not looking for notoriety yet two people stopped today and were happy with what I was doing. The inscriptions are now clear as day and there is some writing on the barrel under the paint which is a mystery.

Thanks,

Spec
 
When I took off the paint there was an orange base or primer layer. Under that was some writing on the barrel (written by hand), which I cannot decifer. Was it traditional, in the ACW, for crews to make inscriptions on the barrel of a cannon? I will get pics soon.
I wouldn't think so, since the guns were often switched out for another when they became worn, damaged or were to be upgraded for another gun. The hand inscription on the gun made go far to explain the history of the piece.
 
Save the photo to your desktop, rotate it 90deg counterclockwise and blow it up. I think I was at about 250%. Then back it back toward 100% and it will come out. The F is pretty clear, there appears to be a space, then the 2 is dark gray, a space, then the other 2 (very faint), and room for several more characters.


I got the trunnion cleaned up and there was nothing there.
 
Would anyone know a resource for tracing the movements of 1862 PIC 3" Ordance rifle No. 476? Would Pheonix IW have this or is there an archieve as to where this went during the war?
 
While I can't speak for the federal government, the State of Ohio did not track any of their artillery by identification number. They only accounted for them as an item - for example if a battery drew equipment, they would get 6 12-pdr bronze guns, 6 12-pdr carriages, 6 12-pdr caissons - that's all they were identified by. I have been able to trace the history of the Ohio Statehouse guns only because the Quartermaster General sent letters to Miles Greenwood instructing him who to ship the guns to. I was then able to use records of arms issued to determine the chain of possession until they returned to the State Arsenal in 1865. It was disappointing to find this out. When I started the research, I was hoping to track the guns by their numbers. I was fortunate that the State did not have anything in the armory but a few obsolete or unserviceable guns, so these were shipped directly to the units in the field.
 
I wouldn't think so, since the guns were often switched out for another when they became worn, damaged or were to be upgraded for another gun. The hand inscription on the gun made go far to explain the history of the piece.
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A fairly View attachment 74230 clean look at the muzzle
In the left trunnion


This is about three weekends of rehab work on this cannon. Today I applied the first coat of primer - a Rustolium product which is suppose to inhibit heavy rust. I know there were other options, some auto store products which are suppose to, chemically, restore rusted iron and steel without an electrical charge.

I wanted to record these pics before the primer obscured them. I tried not to apply the primer to the maker marks. I plan to hand paint the inscriptions in white oil paint (model paint) and cover that with a clear lacquer.

From what I saw today, I am about 1/2 way thru the process.
 

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Specster,
Thank you for your work on this project. The picture of the "before" cannon shows that you came along to clean things up in the nick of time.

rgds,
Booner
 
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