4.5 cannon ball from war of 1812

[mattmatt100381]

4.5' cannon ball from war of 1812




so i have two other pics but there to big apparently. but i can tell you within 3 inches of where i dug it up. over ten yrs ago in the niagara on the lake region in ontario. also the sight of the war of 1812. it is 4.5-5 inches in diameter. has a hole in it but i assure you by its weight it is a solid iron ball there is a ring around it and that is about all i can see. id like to clean it up but i dont know if i can just use water or if i need to do something special. so please if any one can help me with a bit more history a value and how to clean it it would be much abliged.
respectfully mattmatt

 

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[duggap]

Our expert will be along shortly, but I think I can say I don't believe it is a cannon ball. That is because of the ring around it.

 

[grasshopper]

Also, based on what I have read, it's important to have the EXACT size of the cannonball if you really want to narrow down what kind it is /where or when it's from.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

That very narrow tiny ring on Mattmatt100381's iron ball is a casting-mold seam. Such a tiny ring is not quite a 100% disqualifier from being a cannonball. I say "not quite" because although many Industrial/Civilian-usage iron balls commonly have a tiny mold seam like that one, a few Colonial-era and War-of-1812 cannonballs did have a tiny mold-seam ring. (By the time of the American Civil War, cannonballs were manufactured to fit into the cannon more "tightly," so the casting-mold seam ring on a cannonball needed to be removed.) So, at this very preliminary stage of the identification process, there's still a 50/50 chance that this iron ball from a War-of-1812 site is a cannonball. Additional information about it is needed to complete the identification process.

The additional information needed is the ball's VERY-EXACT weight (such as, 12 pounds 6 ounces), and diameter (such as, 4.73-inches). To learn how to do the super-precise measuring of the ball's weight and diameter, go here: SolidShotEssentialsMod

(You'll need to use a Postal Shipping scale, because typical household bathroom weighing-scales are notoriously inaccurate.)

When you post the ball's precise diameter and precise weight, I'll be able to tell you whether it is or isn't a cannonball.

Meanwhile... you say the ball is a solid one (meaning, not hollow). If that is correct, the area on it which looks like a hole is actually the round mark created by the casting-mold's vent during the ironcasting process.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Update:
I got sidetracked in giving other details in my prior post (above), and forgot to mention something important about that ball.

Especially in the first photo, it appears to be covered with a thin layer of concrete/cement. That is worrisome, because I've seen other concrete-coated iron balls. They are the result of using iron balls to clean leftover concrete out of a concrete-delivery-truck's rotating tank.

Explanation: After the concrete-truck delivers its tankload to a jobsite, some wet concrete clings to the interior of the tank's walls ...and the concrete hardens when it is exposed to air in the empty tank. After a number of deliveries, it can build up pretty thickly inside the tank, significantly reducing the tank's capacity. How do you clean it out? Do you put a man inside with a sledgehammer and chisel? No. You simply put a bunch of iron balls in the empty tank, and flip on the rotation switch. The iron balls then tumble and crash around inside the tank, bashing the concrete off the interior walls.

My cannonball collection includes a big lump of concrete with iron balls in it. It was given to me by its finder after I told him what it (really) was. He thought it was from a civil war artillery projectile known as Canister. But actual Canister balls were contained in sawdust, not a concrete matrix. I've got a photo of it somewhere, which I'll post here if I can find it.

Mattmatt100381, does that ball have a thin coating of concrete, or is it just grey-colored dirt? (If it's just dirt, it will scrub off ...and concrete won't.)

 

[Muddyhandz]

Great information Cannonballguy, I never knew that about the cement trucks but it makes total sense.
I wanted to add that some iron that has been sitting in clay for years will also have a white coating fused with the rust and will not scrub off.
In fact it takes heavy treatment to get that crust off so I would hope that the concrete should come off easier?
I just wanted to add that tidbit as I know nothing about cannonballs.
Nice find!
Cheers,
Dave.

 

[mattmatt100381]

Update:
I got sidetracked in giving other details in my prior post (above), and forgot to mention something important about that ball.

Especially in the first photo, it appears to be covered with a thin layer of concrete/cement. That is worrisome, because I've seen other concrete-coated iron balls. They are the result of using iron balls to clean leftover concrete out of a concrete-delivery-truck's rotating tank.

Explanation: After the concrete-truck delivers its tankload to a jobsite, some wet concrete clings to the interior of the tank's walls ...and the concrete hardens when it is exposed to air in the empty tank. After a number of deliveries, it can build up pretty thickly inside the tank, significantly reducing the tank's capacity. How do you clean it out? Do you put a man inside with a sledgehammer and chisel? No. You simply put a bunch of iron balls in the empty tank, and flip on the rotation switch. The iron balls then tumble and crash around inside the tank, bashing the concrete off the interior walls.

My cannonball collection includes a big lump of concrete with iron balls in it. It was given to me by its finder after I told him what it (really) was. He thought it was from a civil war artillery projectile known as Canister. But actual Canister balls were contained in sawdust, not a concrete matrix. I've got a photo of it somewhere, which I'll post here if I can find it.

Mattmatt100381, does that ball have a thin coating of concrete, or is it just grey-colored dirt? (If it's just dirt, it will scrub off ...and concrete won't.)

i dont believe it is concrete but what is the safest way to try to clean it ? with water and a scrub brush or soaking it in a chemical of some sort ?? i have just left it as i found it and never tried to clean it in fear of damaging it.
i will take it to be weighed and ill do my best to measure it as well.

also if was found in the niagara area which is mostly comprised of clay.
and other facts that would contradict the concrete truck thing is i dug it out of two feet of undisturbed ground. about 10 feet from a house from that era.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It's only worth the effort of cleaning if its precisely-measured weight and diameter prove it to be a cannonball. If it is, I'll give you Links to instructions on how to do Electrolysis cleaning, which doesn't just remove the rust-crust, it electrochemically neutralizes the corrosion which is happening down inside the cast-iron's micropores. (Electrolysis is what we Professional Archeologists do to "lastingly conserve" excavated iron artifacts.)

 

[mattmatt100381]

ok so i had it weighed at ups it is 12.25 lbs
and measures at 5 inches

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Part of your size-&-weight report (5.0"-diameter, 12.25 pounds) is good news, and part is bad news.

According to historical Ordnance Department cannonball size-&-weight specifications for cannonballs, a 12-Pounder caliber (4.62" bore diameter) cannon's ball should be 4.52-inches in diameter, and weigh 12.25 pounds. So, your ball matches the weight specification exactly, but its size is significantly larger than the specification. If your ball is indeed 5.0-inches in diameter, it would not fit into the muzzle of a 12-Pounder cannon.

Because your ball EXACTLY matches the weight specification for a 12-pounder Solid-Shot cannonball (and I'm hoping for your sake that that's what your ball is), I have to ask, how did did you measure the ball's diameter? Did you use a flexible-plastic or metal tape-measure, or did you use Calipers? Did you include the raised ridge? (The ridge should not be included in the measurement.)

I

 

[mattmatt100381]

i was not so accurate with the diameter but i will now check back soon

 

[smokeythecat]

If it was used in a truck and tumbled, the mold seam would have worn away very fast. My bet is on cannonball, How about a wire brush on a drill motor to clean or maybe electrolysis?

 

[mattmatt100381]

Ok so the official measurement is 14.25inches around I used a measuring tape

 

[cti4sw]

Matt, TCG is going to want diameter, probably not circumference... You're going to want calipers of some kind for the best measurement (and for accurate future measurements). You could even try these (on the left).

 

[taz42o]

Circumference 14.25 divided by PI 3.14 = diameter/ 4.53

 

[mattmatt100381]

That is what I got as well accept that is including the ring around it I am in the works off finding a caliper to get a more precise number

 

[mattmatt100381]

Ok so I have looked into electrolysis basically a car battery charger (12v) a steel plate and a bucket if water with baking soda in it... Can any one give me the go ahead to do this with confidence that it won't depreciate the item??

 

[PlaneCrazy]

and theres the silence...LOL

 

[PlaneCrazy]

some folks arent big on that procedure, thats just what Ive heard.

 

[mattmatt100381]

Yeah I'm waiting for cannon ball guy or some one to tell me what I have here and if its worth anything and how to clean it without damaging it