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 Post subject: Tennis ball cannons
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:52 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:48 pm
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Location: Cypress, TX
Last year I sold a few of my concrete 1841 six pounders to the Texas Renaissance Festival. They went on board a pirate ship.

The same folks contacted me a few months ago. They had a PVC pipe contraption that you could hook an air hose to and shoot tennis balls. It was about 16" long. The tennis balls were a simple pressure fit in the mouth of this unit.

They asked me is I could figure a way to mount it in a cannon and make it look real.

Of coarse I could!

Carronades with trunnions! Or gunades if you prefer.

They turned out pretty cool.
This is a full scale 12 pounder barrel. There is one very similar to it mounted on a stone pedestal at the Alamo.

I just finished these.

These guns are fired by pulling on the lanyard you see wrapped around the cascabel. That opens a valve in the barrel that releases the air.

There is an air line coming out underneath the barrel that you hook compressed air to with a regulator.

I haven't seen these work yet but my customer says the PVC unit works.
I just made it look good.

Here is how it was done.

Zulu


Glue up. lathe work. Making lots and lots of sawdust!! :shock:

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Last edited by Zulu on Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Tennis ball cannons
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:55 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:48 pm
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Location: Cypress, TX
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 Post subject: Re: Tennis ball cannons
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:02 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:48 pm
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Location: Cypress, TX
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Zulu's website
http://www.jmelledge.com


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 Post subject: Re: Tennis ball cannons
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:55 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:35 pm
Posts: 3620
Location: Hutchinson Ks
WHOW! That looks like a LOT of work but, they are beautiful.
Are the "cannon balls" the real ammo (tennis balls painted black) or, are they just there for the looks?
It reminds me of the "Pumpkin Chucking" contests that they have every year. :)

Rog

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 Post subject: Re: Tennis ball cannons
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 3:00 pm 
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Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:48 pm
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Location: Cypress, TX
Rog,
The cannon balls are the concrete balls I cast. They are just there for the picture. :wink:
Zulu

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 Post subject: Re: Tennis ball cannons
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:12 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:01 am
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Location: Linwood, Ma, USA, The Center of the known universe
Very cool Zulu, very cool indeed.


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 Post subject: Re: Tennis ball cannons
PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 11:30 am 
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Location: Northern Maine and out of the city.
So that's how all these little balls have been showing up on my lawn. Point that thing in a different direction will ya. :lol:


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