Last week’s post about foreign 6-pdr field guns was a “resource” post, if not an outright setup posting. Sort of a background discussion leading me up to some points about European cannons and influences upon American designs. What I am leading up to is this cannon: This cannon marks the battery position for 8th IndianaContinue reading “A trip to Europe, looking at foundries: The 1840 Ordnance Commission”
Tag Archives: William Wade
Origins of the Rodman – Early Experiments in the Rodman Method, Part 2
In part one, I discussed two 8-inch Columbiads cast in 1849 and used to test the Rodman method of casting large guns. The conclusion of that experiment indicated a slight improvement to the gun, but not great enough to prove the hollow-core, water-cooled method was greatly superior. Gunfounder William Wade suggested more tests with betterContinue reading “Origins of the Rodman – Early Experiments in the Rodman Method, Part 2”
Origins of the Rodman – Early Experiments in the Rodman Method, Part 1
I’ve mentioned the Rodman technique for manufacture of heavy cannons on a number of occasions. That process, simplified to a thumbnail, involved casting the gun in a hollow mold then cooling the metal from the inside out using a flow of water through a pipe in what would become the bore. This allowed the interiorContinue reading “Origins of the Rodman – Early Experiments in the Rodman Method, Part 1”
To the Sound of the Guns 