How do I clean this cannon ball?

[daaaveman]

You may have seen my post on Today's Find. My 6 yr old found this cannon ball on his first day with his Bounty Hunter Jr. The top of it was about 6-7 inches down in Grandma's yard in SE Missouri.

Anyway, how can I clean the thing? Or should I clean the thing? Any ideas?

And I'm still only about 80% sure this isn't a shotput. Any ideas on that? I can't find any markings on it whatsoever.

Any help is appreciated guys.

 

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[divedigger]

you can do a couple of things,Take a hammer a lightly tap off rust spots,I like to take a peewee grinder with a sort wire wheel and knock off the rest and then coat with wd-40,or a light coat of satin polyurethane.Or you could rig up a small electrolysis tank,this is a little more complicated but does a nice job.Clean a spot on the ball so you can get a good electrical connectionand wrap the ball tightly with wire or drill and tap a screw to connect to.Put in a tub,sitting on a brick,cover with water,take some junk iron and set in the tub,not touching,and hook the positive lead of a battery charger to the junk(anode) and the ground lead to the wire coming from the ball.Keep the battery terminals out of the water.Put the charger on 12 volts,2 amps and pour in some sodium hydroxide(lye, as in drain cleaner) pour in enough that you see small bubbles coming off the wires and ball,but not enough that is becomes a vigorous bubbling.It may take a few hours or a couple of days,but the rust will raise up and at this point it is done.Clean it off and dry your ball.Coat with something clear and not too thick.Congratulations on a nice find.

 

[stefen]

Another option is to have it hi-pressure water blasted or sand blasted using cotton seed shells...

 

[birdman]

Electrolysis works well on cannonballs. I did one a couple of years ago that had a large rust cocoon covering it and it came out great. I put metal hoseclamps tightly around the ball and used a battery charger on low . It took three days in a tank for mine but it was in bad shape.After three days I took it out of the tank and lightly taped on it with a hammer and a large chunk of the cocoon came off.I have two other ones that look about like yours and I think the method divedigger gave would work well. Good luck and congrats on the great find.

 

[Raider19962]

Identification can be by weight, diameter, cast marks, and maker markings. All British cannonballs (and nearly everything else British Military) will have the broad arrow on it. American cannonballs do not. A ring around it may indicate a mold seam. Larger cannonballs may have a hole for a fuse. Small solid-shot will not. I have a 3-pound American cannonball from the British attack on Lewes, Delaware, during the War of 1812 and it has no markings at all. It is also slightly lighter than 3 pounds. You should cultivate a contact with a local archeologist, museum curator. They can identify items for you, advise on curation, and often provide great background information. They may suggest you donate items, but that is not required. They are usually very happy to get the chance to see these things. Good luck! Here's a great link for cannonball info:

SolidShotEssentialsMod

 

[bologna321]

electrolysis, rinse and clean good, put in oven warm it up to dry out, then rub beeswax on the outside to protect it while its still hot

 

[A2coins]

Thats funny bake it but good advice sweet relic

 

[gunsil]

electrolysis, rinse and clean good, put in oven warm it up to dry out, then rub beeswax on the outside to protect it while its still hot

You do realize you are replying to a thread that was 11 years old? I would hope the guy figured out how to clean it and did so a looong time ago.

 

[gunsil]

electrolysis, rinse and clean good, put in oven warm it up to dry out, then rub beeswax on the outside to protect it while its still hot

You do realize you are replying to a thread that was 11 years old? I would hope the guy figured out how to clean it and did so a looong time ago. Ditto to Raider.