Brings to mind the time I fired my cannon (1" bore) down the street with a load of black powder mixed with titanium filings. I made the cannon when I worked at A-----t out of a piece of 347 stainless. Made the carriage out of oak with wheels out of maple. Steel tires shrunk on the wheels. I can relate this tale now, because I am retired from the company. I used to get it out once in a while and wake up the neighborhood. A fistful of black and a newspaper wad would make a huge bang, cloud of white smoke, and the delight of all the neighborhood kids. I also made a mold for it that produced 1" round balls that weighed 1/4 lb. But, that's another story.
Anyway, one day I wanted to see if the titanium would produce colored flame when mixed with the BP, so I took some filings I had made at work when cutting some titanium on a power hack saw. I washed the cutting oil out of the chips and dried them for a couple of days, then mixed them with the black. About 10% Ti to the black.
I lived on a street that T'd into another street a block away so I pointed the cannon down the street. No projectile ,just a wad of newspaper over the charge. With all the kids watching (it was saturday) I touched off the fuse.
The cannon roared, and a huge ball of fire shot out, and went all the way down the street and exploded against the garage door of the house at the end.
Reeling with shock and fear, I grabbed the cannon and hightailed it into the house where I shook and trembled for a while. I NEVER expected anything like that.
Then I walked down the street to see what damage I had done, with visions of a hole in the door and mayhem inside. At the very least, I expected to have to face the ire of an outraged homeowner or the Police I was sure he had called.
When I got to the driveway I was surprised to see no apparent mark on the door. I rang the bell but no one was home.
I left hurriedly.
I never again fired the cannon at home since I figured I had used up all the luck I had coming. I did fire cannon balls out of it in a safe location and was surprised to be able to hit fairly small targets at ranges of 600 Yds or better.
