Paul Gauthier wrote:
I so enjoy your posts of carriage building and the way you do it, for a while I wondered if you did all the iron work too, as it turns out you do and you do it so well. Perhaps one day you could regale us with the tale of how you got into building such fine carriages for cannons.
Paul,
Thanks for the kind comments.
My story is a pretty easy one.
I have always had a gun interest. That said, I always wanted a cannon.
I was not a woodworker but I always wanted to try.
A good friend had a Shop Smith lathe and he turned a fantasy cannon barrel about 30" long out of wood, mounted it on a fantasy naval carriage and gave it to his Nephew.
I was so jealous.
I had started collecting books and drawings on cannons. I asked my friend if he would teach me to turn a barrel on his lathe. He did and I turned a 30" long 1841 six pounder that was pretty accurately detailed.
I was hooked.
It now needed a field carriage to mount it on.
I only owned a Skil saw so I went to Sears and bought a Craftsman 14" band saw and put it in a tiny shed I had in the back yard.
Following my drawings as best I could, I built a 1/2 scale carriage for the barrel.
I found I actually had a bit of a knack for woodworking.
This is it.
I decided to pull the plug and purchase a full scale 10 Pounder Parrott Rifle.
I also ordered a 36" long barrel that I intended to build a carriage for.
Since I was on a spending spree, I had a 12' X 24' sheet metal building built in the back yard and started filling it with equipment so I could pursue this hobby.
Here is the Parrott Rifle. I did Civil War re-enacting with it for 12 years.
Here is the 3/4 scale Revolutionary War carriage I made for the smaller barrel. I actually made the wheels. I also started metal working at this time.
I had friends that wanted me to make carriages for their guns. I found I could make some money doing it.
Around that time, my lovely assistant set up a website for me. That was about 15 years ago.
I now have 350,000 hits on the site.
I have completed 121 carriages.
This is my website. There are over 100 pages of cool things to see there.
http://www.jmelledge.comI have made a lot of wooden guns. They are museum quality replicas and command a premium price.
Carriages that will support a real barrel and also withstand the tremendous forces of recoil have to be made to specifications from the 1700's and 1800's.
They also command a premium price.
The rest is history.
Zulu