✅ SOLVED Cannonball ? Ore Crushing Ball? Flag poll Top? Other????

[winslow]

I found this near Rico Colorado last week near the Dolores river.

Thought it had to be an ore crushing ball at first but I don't know ... that would be perfectly round with no extrusion ... right? It feels like it is solid iron and weighs 9 lbs 10 oz. Lot of mining history in area but area was also explored by French and Spanish before the mining rush days.

 

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[smokeythecat]

Broken bar shot?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The cast-iron stub on it means it is definitely not an artillery projectile. Somebody will probably ask, "What about a Bar-Shot?" No... the bar on Bar-Shot was made of wrought-iron, not an integral part of the cast-iron ball.

As you guessed, it not a Mining Industry ore-crusher ball, because those don't have any projections on them. Nor is it a flagpole-top ball, because those balls tend to be lightweight hollow balls... and if not hollow, there would be threading around the circular projection so it could be screwed into the hollow flagpole. I don't see any threading on it in any of your photos. But you can examine it in real-life. Let us kow if you see any remnants of threading on the projection.

If ultimate proof that it's not an artillery ball is desired, use a caliper or a Diameter Tape to super-precisely measure the ball's diameter, and check for an exact match-up here: www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm
I'm 100% certain there won't be an exact match-up for this solid (not hollow) ball's diameter and weight.

For anybody who doesn't know what a Diameter Tape is, and how to use it for precisely measuring a ball's diamter, detailed instructions (with photos) are in an article I co-authored with Mr. David Poche about how to distinguish actual ("authentic") artillery balls from civilian-usage balls. SolidShotEssentialsMod

 

[cactusrat]

My guess is a tar pot (might be called something else). Back in the day before they had blinking yellow lights to mark road hazards, they use a round metal pot filled with tar (I ‘m guessing) and light them. The tar would burned a long time.

 

[winslow]

Wow your a wealth of information! Thanks!! I left the ball in Colorado with my buddy but I remember looking for any sign of threading and didn't see any. Excellent article .. by the way.

The cast-iron stub on it means it is definitely not an artillery projectile. Somebody will probably ask, "What about a Bar-Shot?" No... the bar on Bar-Shot was made of wrought-iron, not an integral part of the cast-iron ball.

As you guessed, it not a Mining Industry ore-crusher ball, because those don't have any projections on them. Not is it a flagpole-top ball, because those balls tend to be lightweight hollow balls... and if not, there would be threading around the circular projection so it could be screwed into the hollow flagpole. I don't see any threading on it in any of your photos. But you can examine it in real-life. Let us kow if you see any remnants of threading on the projection.

If ultimate proof that it's not an artillery ball is desired, use a caliper or a Diameter Tape to super-precisely measure the ball's diameter, and check for an exact match-up here: The Civil War Artillery Projectile and Cannon Home Page
I'm 100% certain there won't be an exact match-up for this solid (not hollow) ball's diameter and weight.

For anybody who doesn't know what a Diameter Tape is, and how to use it for precisely measuring a ball's diamter, detailed instructions (with photos) are in an article I co-authored with Mr. David Poche about how to distinguish actual ("authentic") artillery balls from civilian-usage balls. SolidShotEssentialsMod

 

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Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[DCMatt]

Steam engine flyball?



DCMatt

 

[mick56]

Half of a strongman dumbell?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Mick56 has posted the "most-likely to be correct" guess... part of a broken solid-cast iron weightlifting exercise dumbell.

Here's the explanation:
The "construction" of an object can help us deduce its correct identity. As I mentioned in my previous reply (above), the bar of a Bar-Shot (Colonial Era artillery projectile) is made of wrought-iron and it is manufactured separately from the ball. Bar-Shot is constructed by mounting two cast-iron balls (or half-balls) onto each end of the wrought-iron bar. And as you see in DCMatt's posted diagram of a steam engine governor's flyball, the ball is screwed onto the end of the bar... the ball and bar are not cast in a mold as a one-piece object.

Reminder: Winslow's ball-with-stub is a 1-piece solid-cast object.

I've seen one type of "balls-and-bar" object which IS cast in a mold as a single piece... a weightlifting exercise dumbell. Some are antiques, and some are still being manufactured today. (I should mention that the modernday ones are usually plastic-coated.) An example of that is shown in a photo below.

The other photo shows a broken antique (non-plastic-coated) one, which was for sale on Ebay several years ago as being part of a Revolutionary War Bar-Shot. But as I've explained, a Bar-Shot was not a 1-piece solid-cast object.

 

[CC Hunter]

TheCannoballGuy is indeed spot on regarding the construction of bar-shot.

Years ago, a Rev War bar-shot was personally recovered by my father and myself from a Continental Navy site. The bar-shot is constructed of three separate pieces forge welded together. Many of the original bar-shot were also in fact other shapes rather than spherical balls on each end. The example I have, is actually larger diameter cylindrical portions on each end (not spherical balls), connected by a bar.


CC Hunter

 

[OldSowBreath]

Maybe this should be in a new thread, but since we are talking cannonballs, I"d like to ask the experts like TheCannonBall Guy. I bought at a garage sale what appears to be a 5 1/2 inch diameter, 22.0 lb iron cannonball (I can post a picture, but all it is is a just a pitted rusted iron ball of those dimensions. I understand that that size and weight do not fit any of the Civil War type, but an article about an identical one dug in Charleston had the speculation that it was British, Revolutionary War period. Any thoughts?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Please start a new discussion-thread, and post at least a couple of photos of the ball in it, along with the info you gave above.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Forgot to mention... if you haven't already done so, please weigh the ball on a precision Postal Shipping scale. Typical household scales (such as a bathroom's scale) are notoriously inaccurate.