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Dad Builds 700 Pound Cannon for Son's Birthday
Hugh Pickens writes "The Charleston Daily Mail reports that machinist Mike Daugherty built his son a working cannon for his birthday — not a model — a real working cannon. 'It looks like something right out of the battle at Gettysburg,' says Daugherty. The 700 pound cast iron and steel howitzer, designed to use comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories with a steep angle of descent, has a 4-inch gun barrel that is 36 inches long mounted on a wooden gun carriage with two 36- inch diameter wheels and took Daugherty about two weeks to build at a cost of about $6,000. 'I've always been interested in the Civil War and cannons, so I thought it would be a good gift,' says Daugherty's 11-year old son Logan. Daugherty said he is not worried about the federal government coming to get his son's cannon because he spoke to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and found it is legal to own such a cannon because it does not use a firing pin and is muzzle loaded so the government does not consider the weapon a threat. Two days after the family celebrated Logan's 11th birthday, father and son offered a field demonstration of the new cannon on top of a grassy hill overlooking Fairmont, West Virginia and on the third try, the blank inside the barrel went boom and a cannon was born. For a followup they popped a golf ball into the gun barrel, lit the fuse, and watched the golf ball split the sky and land about 600 yards away. 'Any rebels charging up this hill would be in trouble with a cannon like this at the top,' Logan says."
...it is legal to own such a cannon because it does not use a firing pin and is muzzle loaded so the government does not consider the weapon a threat.
He then continued to say, "Also, I use it to hunt deer."
This is totally OT.
First? Is it really a good idea to give an 11 year old a cannon. Even though you will tell him not to use it unsupervised eventually theres going to come a time where his friends say something like "cmon we will just shoot it once"...... and then before you know it they are invading a nearby neighborhood...
Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgment - Zemfram Cochrane
Though Daugherty said he is still stunned that he had to get clearance from the NSA for the archaic artillery piece
Why would he need clearance from the NSA?
Here I sit, all broken hearted.
Came to poop, but only farted.
The article didn't say it cost $6000, but that it would be worth that. It would be hard to spend $6000 in materials for a Civil war era cannon that you build yourself.
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
So we can only have stuff as long as the government doesn't find it threatening?
Oh, I see this guy's on the Union side. Maybe they're worried about him pointing it at Baltimore's civilians and making demands, as the Union army did.
My kid brother, the machinist, made a scale replica of the 24 pounder long guns on the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides). He didn't cast iron; he machined it from a solid piece of modern steel (so it was WAY stronger than the originals).
Then he made a scale carriage, machined (because it was so hard) from seasoned timbers from an old dock being disassembled.
It was 1/4 scale, as I recall. When fired using modern muzzle loader powder (and totally guessing at the charge), it shot a beercan filled with cement about a quarter mile :-)
He sold it eventually to a collector, but what a cannon that was!
This kid lives in Charleston. Why is he talking about shooting at rebels? What has the South come to? Where is the adult supervision?
This would be a great way finally to enjoy a good walk and maybe even get a hole in one.
People nowadays are such wimps...
At random times, my dad gave me a loaded revolver, a tub of arsenic, a box of rabid weasles, a car with the brakes disabled, etc. etc
And I'm still alive
my parents also used to play this fun game where they'd drop me off in the woods naked and covered in bacon fat and I would have to find my way home
good times, good times
just so there's no risk he turns into a girlie man.
Every boy needs to learn that you have to have a big cannon and wield it with authority should any dispute come up.
(Warning: Failure to recognize sarcasm is the eighth deadly sin, specially in a world of manly men.)
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
Sweet!
'Any rebels charging up this hill would be in trouble with a cannon like this at the top,' Logan says
Anyone else have an image of Stormtroopers firing one of these, relieved that they finally have a better weapon than those blasters?
Really, if you look at the time, America had just revolted against an oppressive government and it's my belief that they included the right to bear arms in the constitution to insure that it'd be possible for the citizens to revolt again should their new government ever go out of control and become too oppressive again. Even with that insurance in there the government has had its civilians outgunned for a very long time -- nevermind that time those guys TRIED to revolt and got bitch-slapped back into the Union for their trouble...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Good thing he didn't ask for a Tank.
BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!
Daugherty said his son is very mature and would be able to handle the responsibility of owning a piece of artillery.
"He's a good kid. One thing about my son he has a great respect for guns and weapons, so he will not be firing this anytime soon without an adult present."
I'm sure that's all true. Unlike Mr. Daugherty, I actually do remember being 11 years old. I also remember not doing a very good job of thinking of the consequences of my actions. So we'll all wait for the day when 1 or 2 years from now when this "good kid" and his friends fire this cannon at other people or nearby property and cause damage that they are held accountable for.
That title should read "Dad Builds 700 Pound Cannon for Himself, Under The Cover of His Son's Birthday".
What a charming and delightful way to relive one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history. :P
I'm calling "bullshit" on the NSA bit. The NSA is a bunch of spys and technology geeks. They would have little interest in a Civil War-era black powder cannon. From the NSA web site "The NSA/CSS core missions are to protect U.S. national security systems and to produce foreign signals intelligence information."[http://www.nsa.gov/about/mission/index.shtml]
Chaos maximizes locally around me.
"I want a thermonuclear device."
My wife's uncle builds and shoots them. Years ago, he competed with his cannon, in both round shot and rifled competitions, with self-cast balls and "bullets" (I forget the correct name for them). These days he just does it for fun.
You do have to be careful with them, though. Last year (2008) on the fourth of July, he took his small (2.5") cannon down to the city park like every year, to fire it as part of the city's early morning festivities. That went well, and on the way back he decided to stop off at my house and wake us all up, since my kids usually go down to the park. Unfortunately, he forgot to lower the tailgate of his pickup truck before touching off the powder. It blew an 8-inch hole through his tailgate. The cannon didn't have a projectile loaded, just gunpowder and a wad, but the force mangled his tailgate.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
I would love to be the kind of dad who could do this, but my daughter would prefer it in pink or come with horses & cell phone.
'I've always been interested in the Civil War and cannons, so I thought it would be a good gift,'
Translation"
'I've always been interested in the Civil War and cannons, so I really got it for myself even though I won't know it until my son drops his interest in it.'
Daugherty said he is not worried about the federal government coming to get his son's cannon because he has spoken to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as well as the National Security Agency. Though Daugherty said he is still stunned that he had to get clearance from the NSA for the archaic artillery piece, it is legal to own such a cannon because it does not use a firing pin or is breach loaded. He said the government does not consider the weapon a threat.
So, the government has no problems with people building artillery as long as it has no firing pin, and you tell them first. Then it's legal to possess such a dangerous piece of weaponry which serves no practical purpose - and it's ok for your 11 year old kid to own it. America really is a backwards country.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
a troll from 1861
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
There is a really great episode of This American Life here: http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=734 that is relevant to this story. Act 1 has Sarah Vowell (a liberal anti-gun person) whose father is a gunsmith who built his own cannon. She tells about going out with him to fire it for the first time.
You mean that somewhere, someone has NOT taught their son to be a pansy, and fear anything that has any remote chance of hurting someone? Oh, the horror! The next thing you know, he'll let the kid have his own POCKET KNIFE, for crying out loud. Won't someone please... THINK OF THE CHILDREN????
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
A while back I was working at a place that had both engineering and manufacturing, and I mostly hung out with the engineers but I worked on some of the manufacturing equipment so I met a lot of the manufacturing people. One guy looked like an 80's stoner, black jacket, long hair, bad teeth, you know the type. I'd never talked to him. One day, apropos of nothing, he walked up and handed me a thick sheaf of papers and said "I thought you'd enjoy this." It was plans for making a homebuilt mortar, similar in size to the cannon in TFA (but with a much less pretty and detailed carriage.) It was machined out of a piece of solid 6" thick steel stock. It's actually a pretty cool design, although my metal lathe can't manage something that big. But ever since, I've wondered if I have "CLOSET ANARCHIST" written on my forehead, that makes people who don't know me walk up and volunteer stuff like this, since this wasn't the only time that's happened.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
I'm afraid they are describing a mortar, not a howitzer. A howitzer *can* shoot like a mortar, and it *can* shoot like a gun, but the thing that makes it a howitzer is the ability to do both.
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
Cause, I want my son to ask me for a Wave Motion Gun! :)
Somebody has been playing too much Empire: Total War
you should have written
"Cannons don't kill people. Criminal confederate rebels with cannons do."
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
One of my biology heroes, Ramon y Cajal, was also interested in cannons. When he was 11, he also had his own cannon (although he did build it himself.) He used it to destroy the gates of his hometown, got thrown in jail. Almost immediately upon his release he built a bigger one which blew up, injuring himself in the process. This seems to have curbed his interest in cannons. He still led a pretty wild life after that as well. He settled down a bit after contracting malaria, tuberculosis, and having seven kids, and made the foundations of neuroscience. We still refer to him as the father of neuroscience in fact.
Again though, Cajal did build his cannon, not his dad. Here's hoping though he doesn't have to injure himself, get malaria or tuberculosis, but does do some great things in life.
Now, if he were in Tennessee or Montana, he could claim exemption under the states' Firearms Freedom Acts from federal gun laws! Well, except that it's a little too big...
Revive the Constitution.
...head shot
http://www.pers-place.uklinux.net/tommyogtigern/flamethrower.gif
My UID is prime. Hah!
Anytime you need to get permission from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms for a Birthday present, you know it's going to be the best birthday ever.
A destructive device (26 U.S.C. 5845) includes "Any weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter, except a shotgun or shotgun shell which the Secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes;"
But it does exclude "any other device the Secretary finds is not likely to be used as a weapon, or is an antique or is a rifle which the owner intends to use solely for sporting purposes."
So if you have the signature of the Secretary (of the BATF), maybe you're OK.
I've a friend who has been making these for customers for years. His are machined from brass propeller shafts recovered from antique motorboats. He milled them down in all size from a 24" long barrel to monster sized artillery. They are quite functional, firing lead balls he casts himself from self-made tools and the polished brass is absolutely beautiful. Just an idea for anyone with a hankering to make one, but doesn't have access to a foundry to cast iron.
Though Daugherty said he is still stunned that he had to get clearance from the NSA for the archaic artillery piece
Why would he need clearance from the NSA?
I'm guessing the reporter messed this one up. The Department of Homeland Security would be my guess.
so the government does not consider the weapon a threat
This statement says so much...
Mind the frickin' laser...
I hear that they're often loaded with a salt, and frequently used in bar fights.
Lots of Civil War re-enactors have built artillery pieces before. There are whole batteries of them! As for it going to an eleven year old, he will have a great deal of difficulty moving it around without dad's truck. Ammunition will cost over $20/round, so he won't be firing it very often. Before we all became politically correct (and more urbanized) after WWII, a boy would often get "his first rifle long before he has his first long trousers." This kid has a lot less potential to get into mischief with a howitzer than he does with a .22 rifle!
P.S. With a little research, dad could have bought one of these for a lot less than $6K.
This article reminds me of one of my all-time favorite books, Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon, by Jim Paul. The author chronicles how he built a working catapult, getting a National Endowment for the Arts grant to fund it. It sure makes my job look boring!
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
I don't know why some people are all excited about an eleven year old with his own cannon. Kids that age already build some of their own stuff that is at least as dangerous. Spud guns, tennis ball guns, zip guns, tiger traps with punji sticks, pipe bombs, Molotov Cocktails, chlorine gas grenades, stills, the list goes on and on.
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
Slavery is profoundly wrong and no action taken to promote or sustain it can be considered moral.
Succeeding or not succeeding is not essential moral issue. How else did the US or Texas come about if not for succession?
But the Civil War was only about states' rights insofar as that meant their right to join a new country when a president was elected from a newly formed abolitionist party who threatened to infringe on the state "right" of slavery.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
Nah, West Virginia seceded from Virginia so they could stay in the Union. Those aren't rebs at all.
I'd put it on my doorstep with a sign that said "Dear Mormons, my cannon would like to learn about Jesus. Please speak directly into barrel."
...to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
The government should not consider ANY weapon a threat, because the Right of the People to keep and bear arms shall NOT be infringed. Arms are arms, whether they be spit-ball tubes, cannon, or nuclear weapons. If an arm is available to the government, The People are entitled to it for their own defense.
But, that's an ideal world in which the government obeys the rules imposed upon it by The People, and we all know how much of a fantasy that is...
...Dad's been watching *way* too much Mythbusters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TTkPE0ew40
This is the worst gift ever! Whats he going to do with this? He'll (hopefully) need a parent whenever he wants to "play" with it. He would have been better off with a toy gun or a classic shootin' shell pistol form the 60's
I have several friends that have had cannons before. Sure, the *antique* kind, not the "40mm" kind that fires at a high rate per minute...
I've seen these at civil war re-enactments. And ya know what? In *thousands* of these per year, the people are more likely to get hurt due to the SUN and the BOOZE they sneak in, than the cannons.
Is the concern that someone's gonna hold up an ATM with a 700 pound cannon that fires once a minute? Is that REALLY your concern? You really need to turn off the TV, watch it too long and it'll rot your brain AND your voting.
--- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
Taking over the government? Nope
Let's see: 11-year old civil war buff
This is an anti-wedgie cannon
This cannon is very similar in design to the classic "Napolean" 12 pounder. Guns like this are not primarily intended to "use comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories with a steep angle of descent". That's what a mortar is for. These kinds of cannons were aimed straight at the target.
R. Lee Ermey has a wonderful new series on the History channel called Lock 'n Load. One episode deals with field artillery. They fire a Napolean, among other guns. They also fire a mortar of the civil war era.
Wansu, th' chinese sailor
Stuffed into the crotch of my pants?
And I doubt a fellow would be alone for very long with a 700 lb. cannon in his pants...;-)
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Eh, sort of. West Virginia seceded because they wanted to outlaw slavery, while the Commonwealth of Virginia did not.
For the last time, PIN Number and ATM Machine are redundancies!
1. Perhaps "NSA" was supposed to be "NFA" - National Firearms Act? Which classifies certain types of weapons as "destructive" and regulates their use/possession. 2. I've been to the Knob Creek Machinegun Shoot twice, and on each occasion, a fellow there brought a Civil War cannon, a rather large muzzleloader he fired about once every 20 - 45 minutes or so.
I live in Fairmont but I didn't hear anything. Based on the article the test firing was last Tuesday, with it being reported in the Saturday paper, and if it was during the day I would have been at work anyway. That's too bad. I didn't even know this was happening but I don't read the local paper. I can't tell where in Fairmont it was done simply based on the picture.
This is off topic but why is it that a lot of media agencies can't help but use a non-standard 3+ character abbreviation for West Virginia? The AP uses W.Va. (and other non-standard abbreviations compared to the USPS) and it seems even the Times West Virginian uses the same abbreviation. The wikipedia page says "The Associated Press Stylebook states that in contexts other than mailing addresses, the traditional state abbreviations should be used." but I personally think that is stupid. Besides, the USPS abbreviation is the traditional abbreviation in my opinion. The AP abbreviated names seem to have arbitrary cutoff points (although it only abbreviates for states with more than 5 letters) which just makes them appear inconsistent.
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
When I was a kid my parents got me an air gun.
I fancied my self a sniper.... I used to wear camo, paint my face, hide in the bushes and shoot people in the ass with pepper corn's... It was a while before they caught me too - I got away with it 4 times before victim #5 caught me and beat the shit out of me.
Fun times...
Posting AC for obvious reasons.
Someone modded THAT interesting? Slashdot mods must be extra dense today.
I can immagine funny, or even overrated, but interesting? What's next? Someone rating that bad pun "insightful?"
(hint: "A salt-end battery" vs "Assault and battery")
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
"Just think. Violence. Without paperwork."
My father was part of the Revolutionary War Re-enactment Militia back in the 70's, and we used to raise merry Hell with our cannon. I can remember firing Quaker Oatmeal canisters full of sand (puff rounds) several hundred yards out to sea off Cooper's Beach in the Hamptons.
One time, they did a parade in Sag Harbor, but the village wouldn't let them fire the cannon. It was only a 2-pounder, but they still wouldn't let them fire it. They were afraid it would break the windows in some of the historic buildings, which admittedly, are several hundred years old. Well, they held off until the very end of the parade, then fired it anyway. No damage, scared the HELL out of the judges and the crowd loved it.
However, now the gun had to be cleaned.
Dad and Walter took it to the end of the pier and got ready to clean it, when dad noted that the bore was the exact same diameter as a "D" cell battery. Walter noted the same thing, and in a few minutes, they'd charged the cannon and rammed a D-cell down the bore.
Now...a cannon with just a wadding load makes a huge "BOOM" with a big cloud of smoke. Very showy, very flashy. The gun rocks back a little, and that's it.
However, a cannon with an actual round in it makes a sound not unlike a Howitzer from those old WWII movies. A kind of "PAH-WOOOM", followed by the sound of ripping canvas heading down range. The smoke cloud is much narrower, and oh yeah? The cannon jumped it's blocks and went flying down the pier like a scalded cat. Probably scared the bejabbers out of a few baymen that day.
Dad was already hopping in the truck, Walter was chasing after the cannon before it rolled off the pier, and they both threw it in the back and took off before the cops could come.
They cleaned it at home this time.
[End Of Line]
Not sure I get your comment, sorry. But what exactly does the cannon story have to do with Shrub's years in the White House?
Huh?
Please file the RFC for transporting protocol of packets by cannon.
The best way to fire an SUV would be to sling it with a Trebuchet. One this size should do the job quite well http://www.fitz-claridge.com/Trebuchet/index.html
Am I wrong or something, but I think that at those times you measured the canon by the size / weight of cannon ball not the cannon itself. Did a little calculation. If barrel diameter 4'' and assumption that diameter of ball is almost the same and that cannon presumably will use iron (100% clean) cannon balls I got 1.7 pounds.
I am ashamed at how ridiculous "so-called" Americans can be in this modern world. Cars kill more people than firearms today, yet no one runs ducking for cover at the sight of a 16 year old soloing in his used Chevy for the first time. People all over the country, teens included, celebrate Independence Day by firing off illegal fireworks, yet few complain or report such crimes. But if someone chooses to make a device of historic value for such celebration, you can only find wrong in it. Has there ever been a report since the end of the civil war, ever, of anyone, child or adult, hitting someone's house with a canon? I think not. I wonder why it is not more common place. What is it about the people who wish to stifle Freedom that instills so much fear in them of their fellow law abiding citizenry? Frankly, what worries me more than anything is such "enlightened" people mis-using their 1st amendment right to free speech to tarnish, restrict and destroy our other equally valuable rights.
I do not care to take the time to create an account for a site I have no intention to return to. Be content I bothered to take the time to respond at all.