Cannon Ball Question

[Old Dog]

I lately came into posession of what looks very much like a cannon ball.
It is five inches in diameter and weighs just over 19 lbs.

Is there a link where I can get information on one of this size?
If it isn't a cannon ball, where can I find out what it might be?

Thanks in advance.

Thom
OD

 

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[BioProfessor]

Photo?

Daryl

 

[Old Dog]

Hadn't taken pics of it till now,
sorry,
I'll remember to post one next time.
Thanks for the reply Daryl.

 

[Cannonman17]

I have no idea but I will throw this in the mix for the heck of it... I was at an abandoned gold mine in Canada where all the equipment was still in place, including a GIAGANTIC barrel filled with iron balls of about that size and samller that was used to break up the rock so the gold could be smelted out. If this was found in an old mining area perhaps it could be of similar use?

 

[BioProfessor]

I'm afraid I will have to go with media for a Ball Mill as well. I can't find a reference for a Civil War cannon ball of this size. That doesn't mean they weren't made. There was all kind of experimenting going on with cannons. In the largest town close to where I grew up - Athens, GA - they have the infamous twin barrel cannon in front of the courthouse. It was supposed to shoot two balls at once with the balls connected by a chain. Heck of an idea but they couldn't get the cannon to fire both barrels at once and the chain would always break. After about 20 shots, they gave up.

Daryl

 

[chipveres]

Here's an additional confusion factor: the 20-pounder Parrott rifle made during the Civil War had a bore diameter of only 3.67 inches. So I think I vote for ball mill too.

Chip V.

 

[Old Dog]

Thanks guys,

This is cool,
Knowing it came from a ball mill makes a lot of sense.
But the type of mining that was done around here makes me nervous so I have moved the thing out of the house.
The last thing I need around here is something else that could give someone cancer, LOL.

Uranium mining was a big thing here untill it shut down in the late 70s.

Thanks again,
Thom

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks guys,

This is cool,
Knowing it came from a ball mill makes a lot of sense.
But the type of mining that was done around here makes me nervous so I have moved the thing out of the house.
The last thing I need around here is something else that could give someone cancer, LOL.

Uranium mining was a big thing here untill it shut down in the late 70s.

Thanks again,
Thom

The first nuclear cannonball- deadly

 

[greywolf]

Find someone with a Geiger Counter and have it checked for radiation. Perhaps your local Cival Defence people could help!

 

[BioProfessor]

Do we still have Civil Defense people? I remember them as a kid but can't recall where they went?

Daryl

 

[stefen]

Do we still have Civil Defense people? I remember them as a kid but can't recall where they went?

Daryl

Beleive it or not, there are still CD units that are still active...there as active unit located in Diamond Head Crater when we were in pre-demolition stages of removing the FAA CERAP structure a few years back.

Bet if you look around you might find they are flying under the radar, except in New Orleans area.

The Hawaiian unit still had hundred of thousands of water containers, canned food stuff, medicines and assundry of other WWII stuff still stored in the caverns.

 

[Old Dog]

Thanks you guys,

I moved it outside as soon as I made the earlier post.

I will go out to see a friend of mine at the DOE and they will check it for me.

Thom

 

[Vrent]

try an army navy surpluss store they may have a gieger counter they can test it with

 

[Old Dog]

Much easier to go over to the other side of the valley where the DOE has all of the settling ponds and ask a friend of mine who is the Geologist on staff to give it a shot.

These guys use Geiger counters every day to record the levels on site.

They are still finding mill tailings under buildings that were built in the late 50s through the early 70s.
They actually used the uranium tailings as fill and mixed in with cement for foundations for homes.
This reclamation has been an ongoing thing since the mid 70s.

It really affected the housing prices here for a long time.
The best thing to check is when the house was built,
Before 1950 or after 1974 and you are good to go.
Otherwise have them come in and check.
It has taken several years to move the stuff to a safe site...
That was the Cheney site that caused all of the nation wide contraversy.

Thom
OD

 

[deepskyal]

Looks like a ball used in "fragging" a gas well. Steel balls are fired into a freshly dug well to smash up the rocks and create a pocket for gas. Some companies use high pressure air, some water to blast hundreds of these into the wells to bounce around smashing things to bits and a lot bounce back out and are caught in a steel mesh net to prevent anyone from being hit by one flying a couple hundred miles an hour.

A coworker of mine defragged on weekends for a company and bought a few in for me to look at and told me there has been times when the net tore and the balls went 100's of feet into fields, lost forever. And one real cad was actually selling the balls at a flea market as cannon balls.
Buyer beware!
Al