Cannon
Every lathe owner needs to make a cannon at some point, right? I made the barrel out of aluminum and the carriage out of poplar. This is just a small desk piece that I don't intend to fire so I didn't drill a touch hole, although by my calculations it would handle a small black powder charge without a projectile. I modeled this after a pirate/naval cannon, but it isn't a scale representation of an exact model. I looked at numerous pictures and came up with a design that looked good to me. I designed it in AutoCad so I could get the barrel taper correct. The trunnions are a weak point because they are pressed in with sleeve retainer. Real cannons had their trunnions cast in place and modern recreations are done the same way or, minimally, have them welded in. If I was really looking to fire it, I would change the design of the trunnions. I didn't have my ball turning tool built at the time, so all the curved surfaces were done Etch-a-Sketch style with the hand wheels and finished with files and paper. The aluminum was polished after the design was complete. I roughed out the carriage on the table saw and finished it by hand with chisels and a carving knife. It was finished with a tinted polyurethane. Click on the pictures for larger images.