Another iron ball from the scrapyard

[Bruce R]

Well I guess I got another possible cannonball, it has a mold line that appears to be ground, there’s a couple spots that could be ground off sprue and vent. I’ve only weighed it on the bathroom scale so far, 4 lbs. the ball measures 3.15 inches perpendicular to the mold line, I forgot to measure it at the mold line. Found it at the same scrapyard where I found the 18 pounder.

 

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[tamrock]

maybe a mill ball

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Need very-precise measurement of the weight. The diameter measurement you reported, 3.15-inches, is slightly too large to be a 4-Pounder caliber cannonball.
Cannon bore, shot, and shell diameters for smoothbore guns

You said "it has a mold line that appears to be ground." Grinder-marks on a ball are a SURE sign that it is not an artillery ball. Cannonball moldseams were always removed with a chisel... I've never seen an artillery ball with grinder-marks, but I've seen hundreds of civilian-usage metal balls which show grinder-marks.

I must mention, iron (or steel) balls which come from Scrap Yards looking so smooth and slick that they've never been in the ground are almost never a cannonball.

Also, in your photo the ball "appears" to be a bit out-of-round, instead of being a Perfect Sphere. If that's true, it is not a cannonball.

Here's an image of an older version of Tumbler Mill (with the multiple mill-balls inside it) than the version Tamrock helpfully posted.

But for certainty, please provide very-precise measurement of your 4-pounds-ish scrapyard ball's weight.

 

[Bruce R]

I’m sorry, I mis-typed the size, it’s 3.015 “ 3 inches and 15 thou. I’ll try to get an accurate weight tomorrow if I can, this covid thing has everything messed up around here !

 

[Bruce R]

Okay, I’m really sorry for the delay, unavoidable. But the ball weighs exactly 3 lb 10 5/8 oz. and the measurement is 3.015”. Thank You.

 

[Bruce R]

Bump

 

[Bruce R]

I’ve taken some more pictures of the ball, and I want to point out that When I found it, it was very rusty and crappy looking. I glass beaded it and then wire wheeled it. That’s why it looks the way it does.I highlighted the seam with chalk, the measurements around the ball hold between 3” and 3.015” no more variation than 10 to 15 thou plus or minus. this appears to be where the vent was cut off. something was cut off here along the mold line, probably the filler sprue. the marks around the seam are definitely file marks, a fairly course one. compared to a ball bearing. pitting

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bruce R wrote:
> the ball weighs exactly 3 lb 10 5/8 oz. and the measurement is 3.015”.

As I mentioned in a previous reply to you, the Shot Tables (cannonball diameter & weight charts) in the US Ordnance Manual of 1861
http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm
tell the very-exact diameter and weight of cannonballs (and grapeshot and canister-ammo balls) in the civil war era... but Colonial Era cannonballs (& etc.) were slightly smaller and lighter than the civil war era ones. Your latest scrapyard ball matches up very closely with the Colonial Era 4-Pounder caliber smoothbore cannon ball. Thanks for mentioning that you'd vigorously removed every bit of rust-encrustation from the ball, lest we think you found it in this super-clean condition.

As I also mentioned previously, the British did not have a 4-Pounder smoothbore cannon. So this ball is either French from our Revolutionary War, or US from the War-Of-1812.

 

[Bruce R]

Thanks CBG ! What a strange thing to find when you’re looking for something else, now I have 2 cannon balls, one more and it’s officially a collection . I’m surprised that nobody gave me the business for cleaning them up, I always hear how stuff should be left in “as found “ condition, but rusty crusty and nasty ain’t my idea of a displayable piece. My wife frowns on all the swords and helmets displayed in the living room and she insists that the stuff at least be clean and presentable, a rusty old iron ball wouldn’t cut it.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bruce R wrote:
> I’m surprised that nobody gave me the business for cleaning them up, I always hear how stuff should be left in “as found “ condition, but rusty crusty and nasty ain’t my idea of a displayable piece.

The following info is probably already known by Bruce... so I'm posting it for "new" diggers and anybody else here who doesn't already know.

Among "knowledgeable" relic-diggers and collectors, IRON is the exception to the rule about not cleaning the oxidation/"patina" off of an excavated relic. Unlike brass, lead, silver, copper, (etc.), excavated iron will CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE if the rust corrosion isn't removed. That why you weren't "given the business" here about cleaning the rustcrust off this ball. I've personally seen iron relics come out of the ground looking pretty good although rusty, and then go to "scaling & flaking" as the years pass, until they look awful and lose whatever dollar-value they had. I've seen many excavated civil war iron bayonets deteriorate down to a coarsely serrated steak-knife. But an excavated brass button or lead bullet won't deteriorate if it comes out of the ground and goes straight onto your collectibles shelf for 50 years. Also, if you clean/remove the brass or lead oxide, you make the relic look like it's a modernday Reproduction. So, Iron is the exception to the don't-clean-your-relics rule.

 

[Bruce R]

One other question that just occurred to me, how much powder was needed to get this thing flying out the barrel ? It’s only a little under 4 pounds but I’m sure I couldn’t throw it very far.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bruce R asked:
> One other question that just occurred to me, how much powder was needed to get this thing flying out the barrel ? It’s only a little under 4 pounds but I’m sure I couldn’t throw it very far.

It's been several decades since I looked at the Ordnance Department historical data for smoothbore cannon propellant charges. But the "Table of Fire" for a civil war 3" Rifled Cannon's 10-pound projectile was specified to be exactly one pound of gunpowder. So, extrapolating from that info, your 4-Pounder caliber cannonball would have required approximately a 1/2-pound propellant powder charge. Note, even though 4 pounds is less than 1/2 of 10 pounds, smoothbore cannons had larger "windage" (the gap between the projectile and the bore walls, so smoothbore cannons required a slightly larger powder-charge to fire the same weight of projectile that a Rifled Cannon would use.