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#1
08-12-11, 07:27
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Made some headway on the gun before the cold weather set in. Here is a shot of the axle and pintle bar together at last. The rubber is the wrong size...the 11.00X20 will have to do until I can figure a way to get some 9.00X20s from Rob Morrison brought out to here.
 I installed the trails as a temporary measure so I could move the carriage in and out of the shop. It will also give me a chance to work on some of the brackets and clamps over the winter.  Managed to get the top carriage sandblasted before the snow set in. I aquired the bottom bushing for it, but will have to spin the top bushing on the lathe.  On one of the last trips of the season to my favorite surplus yard, I found this chest, which was issued to the 105s (and other US howitzers) as a tool box. On the inside lid is a list of the various telescopes and equipment it contained.  To keep busy I dis-assembled the traverse mechanism. The main shaft was pretty pitted, so I turned it down a fraction of an inch and had to replace a non-standard seal and make a bushing to fit the new diameter shaft. As well, new bearings, bushings and seals were ordered for the remainder of the mechanism.  Below are the parts waiting re-assembly.  As a temporary measure to make up for the barrel, I took an old Leopard barrel (more common than Liberals in this neck of the woods) and cut it in half. I took the heavy end over to a friend's work last Friday after work, and by Saturday night, out came a C1 barrel. As well, 2-1/2 wheel barrows worth of shavings were wheeled out to the metal dumpster.  I couldn't wait to see if the barrel was going to fit into the recoil mech. With a little coaxing, in it went.  The Lord only knows what our animals must think about us doing this kind of stuff. Here, my dog Brenna (feminine version of "Bren") is looking over the morning's work.  This barrel had stayed outdoors for some 25 years or so. As a result, it does not have that shiny bore one would like to see in a barrel. I obviously have some work to do in here. Notice the set back rifling in the barrel swell. This was a design change to stop barrel cracking which was possible on the earlier version of these guns.  One will note that the Leopard breech threads were left on the barrel for now. I am still looking for a suitable breech ring for this gun, so in the meantime the extra metal will help compensate for the missing weight of the breech ring and block. Well that's about all for this month. With the cold weather upon us, painting is out of the question now, so at best things will get a coat of primer and have to wait for the spring for painting. I guess I can use the winter months to keep an eye on ebay for any bits and pieces that might surface. I have actually bought all the bearings and seals along with some minor hardware through ebay and amazon.com. Even with shipping counted into the equation, they are still considerably cheaper than going to the jobbers downtown. 
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#3
09-12-11, 05:45
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Just how big is your friend's lathe? Sometime in the next decade I will need to work on two blackpowder cannons, and a man with a big lathe is good to know.
__________________
Terry Warner - 74-????? M151A2 - 70-08876 M38A1 - 53-71233 M100CDN trailer Beware! The Green Disease walks among us!
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#4
09-12-11, 05:52
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The lathes are pretty big. But by the time you transported something like that out here, you would be just as well off having it done where your at. The shop where mine was done would have charged me $90 an hour if I walked in off the street. The actual hours spent on it was approx 18, so it would have run around $1600 plus misc to have it done.
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#5
10-12-11, 05:21
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Rob,
The project sure is coming together nicely. Keep up the great work, can`t wait to see it finished. Doug
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#6
30-10-12, 05:38
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It has now been put to bed for the winter, in the hopes that some of the dozen or so missing items will be found in the future. The major items I am looking for include:
Breech ring Breech block M4A1 elevation quadrant Elevation mechanism shafts (rear two and the short one on the forward gearbox) Rear elevation gearbox cover Front travel lock latch (located on bracket on front of equalizer bar) Any leads to finding these items would be greatly appreciated. Here is the piece as of last August. It didn't fit on my trailer, so I got a trailer plate and towed it to Winnipeg for the military collectors club of Canada convention.   
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#7
30-10-12, 12:36
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Excellent job you have done there Rob,I bet you are pleased with it.
I have found a few spare bits in the workshop that I dont need so going to sell on so if you have any interest let me know. There is a Breech lever and pin and damaged parts of the Range quadrant. Rob..................rnixartillery.
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