Building beer can mortar - Page 2

Heinrich · July 18, 2007, 02:38 PM

Some handwork on the wood with a rasp and a file. And it fits.

Steve499 · July 19, 2007, 01:58 PM

You planning on a strong side inside the waist band carry, or what?

Steve

jrfoxx · July 19, 2007, 05:54 PM

That is BY FAR, the coolest homemade ANYTHING I've ever seen! VERY nice work.My birthday is March 19th, in case you wanted to build another one.....just sayin'...

Heinrich · July 20, 2007, 03:42 AM

I'm still having a holster made for that... the standard holster carry 52 pounds a little difficult...

I'm considering a larger one...

oldbillthundercheif · July 20, 2007, 04:08 AM

Outstanding.

Are you planning on shooting it anytime soon?

Heinrich · July 20, 2007, 05:27 AM

Tomorrow is the day of days for this mortar.

JWT · July 20, 2007, 09:55 AM

Gorgeous work. Will be waiting for pictures of the firing.

armoredman · July 20, 2007, 10:44 AM

Beautiful work, sir. Access to a full machine shop WITH the skills in using it certainly is handy! Howabout a Parrot gun costal mount in soda can caliber next? You could start a complete handbuilt Civil War connon collection!
Very nice work, very nice indeed.

Heinrich · July 20, 2007, 01:23 PM

Thanks kind sir.

The picture will be on the site tomorrow, promise.

Heinrich · July 21, 2007, 07:51 AM

It works...

My wife shot it as can be seen on the picture, this is the third shot, did not make her test it. A link will be posted early in the week to view the video of it being shot.

We have only one problem, advice on solving it is highly appreciated. The cans with concrete kept rupturing.

Old Dragoon · July 21, 2007, 11:50 AM

I don't believe there is a fix for that. All the mortar's I have seen fired, peel the aluminum off the cement. perhaps if the hole is sealed after filling and solidifying??? I suspect air entering the fill hole and if turned upside down, the gases enter the fill hole and allow rupture.
The guy that has one here just points out the aluminum streamers in the air after firing. He doesn't try to recover the "Shot" for another go.

marcseatac · July 22, 2007, 04:10 PM

Heinrich, does your wife have a sister?

**4V50 Gary** · July 22, 2007, 08:06 PM

Fine work there!

Heinrich · July 23, 2007, 02:25 AM

I have been given advice on the issue with the cans rupturing, I have to bring down the charge, and I will try that this coming saturday.

Coming Saturday, thor will shoot in tandem with his brother zeus...

Double noize, and smoke.

I'll keep all up to date. And I have not forgotten the video link.

armoredman · July 23, 2007, 09:48 AM

Zeus?

Ruger4570 · July 23, 2007, 05:06 PM

Great work and it smacks of quality. My brother has a 1/2 scale Mountain Howitzer. It shoots juice can size projectiles. We don't shoot it often, but waht a hoot when we do. He is a Civil War reinactor so I get to see some "real" cannons going off at times. Loud devils for sure.

Heinrich · July 26, 2007, 02:00 AM

A friend and I built Zeus before we built Thor, the one you see on the pic.

They have identical barrels, and near identical beds.

We we do reenactment, my brother and I shoot a 4 pound naval gun...

taralon · July 26, 2007, 07:20 AM

Heinrich,

The cannon has a 2.75 inch bore diameter correct? There a couple motorcycle engines that have bores of that diameter. The old ACE and I believe some old Honda's as well. If you can find them engine pistons make for good projectiles as they are high strength pieces and seal the bore well.

I knew a guy who used to have a 4" coehorn, and he used pistons out of diesel engines that were out of spec on the con rod bores. They flew pretty good, and he advised that outside of losing one or two in a field, he hadn't ever had to get new ones.

Heinrich · July 26, 2007, 07:24 AM

Taralon, that is a brilliant idea, I am going to investigate.

Steve499 · July 26, 2007, 08:30 AM

Why not just use the motorcycle cylinder as a mold and make some lead shot?

Steve

armoredman · July 26, 2007, 09:14 AM

Now THAT'S an idea!

Heinrich · July 30, 2007, 02:42 AM

Did a decent amount of shooting this weekend, got the most distance into a headwind when shooting at 25deg, not that makes sense, cause the longer the hang time, the more the wind can influence the projectile.

I managed to get 396 meters (1300ft) as a 4 shot average.

mykeal · July 30, 2007, 06:58 AM

The greater the headwind, the greater the lift produced by the spinning ball, thus the greater the distance produced. Could easily be greater than the loss of distance due to the air mass moving in the opposite direction. The direction of lift is also a function of angle of incidence of the wind's vector on the ball, which clearly affects distance as well. However, all this may not be repeatable, as the spin of the ball may not be consistent. It's essentially what we baseball fans know as a "knuckleball", that is a ball that is propelled without consistent control of the direction and amount of spin. It could go anywhere, at any time, as many batters have learned the hard way.

Heinrich · July 30, 2007, 02:31 PM

Here are some mortars in action. First of all, a friend of our Trevor has built little baby mortar, basically a 1:2.5 scale of ours.

Here I am shooting my own, Thor.

And shooting his brother Zeus...

oldbillthundercheif · July 30, 2007, 03:07 PM

Wow!

They have a bit of muzzle-blast, eh?

Very nice.

July 18, 2007, 02:38 PM	#26
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	Some handwork on the wood with a rasp and a file. And it fits. __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 19, 2007, 05:54 PM	#28
jrfoxx Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2004 Location: Evanston,WY Posts: 898	That is BY FAR, the coolest homemade ANYTHING I've ever seen! VERY nice work.My birthday is March 19th, in case you wanted to build another one.....just sayin'... __________________ Q: How can I reduce the amount of mail I receive from the NRA? A: Simply email us at [email protected] or dial 800-NRA-3888 and request to be placed on the "Do Not Promote" list.

July 20, 2007, 03:42 AM	#29
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	I'm still having a holster made for that... the standard holster carry 52 pounds a little difficult... I'm considering a larger one... __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 20, 2007, 05:27 AM	#31
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	Tomorrow is the day of days for this mortar. __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 20, 2007, 01:23 PM	#34
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	Thanks kind sir. The picture will be on the site tomorrow, promise. __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 19, 2007, 01:58 PM	#27
Steve499 Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 533	You planning on a strong side inside the waist band carry, or what? Steve

July 20, 2007, 04:08 AM	#30
oldbillthundercheif Junior member Join Date: April 21, 2006 Location: New Orleans Posts: 2,450	Outstanding. Are you planning on shooting it anytime soon?

July 20, 2007, 09:55 AM	#32
JWT Senior Member Join Date: March 16, 2007 Location: Southern Arizona Posts: 3,888	Gorgeous work. Will be waiting for pictures of the firing.

July 20, 2007, 10:44 AM	#33
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,299	Beautiful work, sir. Access to a full machine shop WITH the skills in using it certainly is handy! Howabout a Parrot gun costal mount in soda can caliber next? You could start a complete handbuilt Civil War connon collection! Very nice work, very nice indeed.

July 21, 2007, 07:51 AM	#35
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	It works... My wife shot it as can be seen on the picture, this is the third shot, did not make her test it. A link will be posted early in the week to view the video of it being shot. We have only one problem, advice on solving it is highly appreciated. The cans with concrete kept rupturing. __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 21, 2007, 11:50 AM	#36
Old Dragoon Senior Member Join Date: October 31, 2005 Location: The Republic of Californi Posts: 581	I don't believe there is a fix for that. All the mortar's I have seen fired, peel the aluminum off the cement. perhaps if the hole is sealed after filling and solidifying??? I suspect air entering the fill hole and if turned upside down, the gases enter the fill hole and allow rupture. The guy that has one here just points out the aluminum streamers in the air after firing. He doesn't try to recover the "Shot" for another go.

July 22, 2007, 04:10 PM	#37
marcseatac Senior Member Join Date: October 7, 2006 Posts: 225	Heinrich, does your wife have a sister?

July 22, 2007, 08:06 PM	#38
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,838	Fine work there! __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

July 23, 2007, 02:25 AM	#39
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	I have been given advice on the issue with the cans rupturing, I have to bring down the charge, and I will try that this coming saturday. Coming Saturday, thor will shoot in tandem with his brother zeus... Double noize, and smoke. I'll keep all up to date. And I have not forgotten the video link. __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 23, 2007, 09:48 AM	#40
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,299	Zeus?

July 23, 2007, 05:06 PM	#41
Ruger4570 Senior Member Join Date: April 3, 2005 Location: Rochester, New York Posts: 2,136	Great work and it smacks of quality. My brother has a 1/2 scale Mountain Howitzer. It shoots juice can size projectiles. We don't shoot it often, but waht a hoot when we do. He is a Civil War reinactor so I get to see some "real" cannons going off at times. Loud devils for sure.

July 26, 2007, 02:00 AM	#42
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	A friend and I built Zeus before we built Thor, the one you see on the pic. They have identical barrels, and near identical beds. We we do reenactment, my brother and I shoot a 4 pound naval gun... __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 26, 2007, 07:20 AM	#43
taralon Member Join Date: October 21, 2004 Posts: 88	Heinrich, The cannon has a 2.75 inch bore diameter correct? There a couple motorcycle engines that have bores of that diameter. The old ACE and I believe some old Honda's as well. If you can find them engine pistons make for good projectiles as they are high strength pieces and seal the bore well. I knew a guy who used to have a 4" coehorn, and he used pistons out of diesel engines that were out of spec on the con rod bores. They flew pretty good, and he advised that outside of losing one or two in a field, he hadn't ever had to get new ones.

July 26, 2007, 07:24 AM	#44
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	Taralon, that is a brilliant idea, I am going to investigate. __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 26, 2007, 08:30 AM	#45
Steve499 Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 533	Why not just use the motorcycle cylinder as a mold and make some lead shot? Steve

July 26, 2007, 09:14 AM	#46
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,299	Now THAT'S an idea!

July 30, 2007, 02:42 AM	#47
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	Did a decent amount of shooting this weekend, got the most distance into a headwind when shooting at 25deg, not that makes sense, cause the longer the hang time, the more the wind can influence the projectile. I managed to get 396 meters (1300ft) as a 4 shot average. __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 30, 2007, 06:58 AM	#48
mykeal Senior Member Join Date: October 8, 2006 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 2,772	The greater the headwind, the greater the lift produced by the spinning ball, thus the greater the distance produced. Could easily be greater than the loss of distance due to the air mass moving in the opposite direction. The direction of lift is also a function of angle of incidence of the wind's vector on the ball, which clearly affects distance as well. However, all this may not be repeatable, as the spin of the ball may not be consistent. It's essentially what we baseball fans know as a "knuckleball", that is a ball that is propelled without consistent control of the direction and amount of spin. It could go anywhere, at any time, as many batters have learned the hard way.

July 30, 2007, 02:31 PM	#49
Heinrich Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: Gauteng South Africa Posts: 86	Here are some mortars in action. First of all, a friend of our Trevor has built little baby mortar, basically a 1:2.5 scale of ours. Here I am shooting my own, Thor. And shooting his brother Zeus... __________________ Those who burn books end by burning men - Heinrich Heine

July 30, 2007, 03:07 PM	#50
oldbillthundercheif Junior member Join Date: April 21, 2006 Location: New Orleans Posts: 2,450	Wow! They have a bit of muzzle-blast, eh? Very nice.