✅ SOLVED Cannonball? and something else

[tcornel]

I found this round iron object today. I weighs about 3 pounds and appears to be solid.

Is this a cannonball? From what period?

I also found some kind of implement with what appears to be a rod for a handle. Any clue as to what is is?
I thought a hoe but why the 5 holes?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

In order to CORRECTLY identify whether it is a cannonball or not, we'll need you to clean the rust-crust off of a couple of spots on opposite sides of the ball, to measure its diameter with a digital caliper in 1/100ths-of-an-inch. Also, please weigh it on a precision Postal Shipping scale, which reads in 1/10th-ounce increments. Typical household bathroom weighing-scales are notoriously inaccurate.

After you tell us the ball's precisely-measured diameter and weight, we'll look for a matchup in the data charts telling the precise diameter and weight of civil war (and earlier) cannonballs, Grapeshot balls, and Canister-ammo balls. If there's no precise matchup, the ball is not an artillery ball.
Cannon bore, shot, and shell diameters for smoothbore guns

Meanwhile... please tell us what state and town vicinity you found it at. If it is an artillery ball, there should be a historical record of the presence at that location of a cannon which could have fired it. (For example, several Ebay sellers have advertised 42-pounder caliber Grapeshot balls from Gettysburg -- but no 42-pounder caliber cannon was present at the Gettysburg battle.)

 

[tcornel]

OK,

Will do. This was found in Brookfield, Ohio 44438 just outside of Sharon, Pa., near Youngstown there wasn't any civil ware action that I am aware of but I believe there was French/Indian war activity close by.
It was maybe a 100 to 150 yards from the second highest point in the county. This area was part of the original Western Reserve. A couple hundred houses on the 1875 map. The township was formed in 1797.

How should I attempt to clean this? It would seem that the crud has ro be completely off to get an accurate weight.

Thanks for the help.

 

[tcornel]

I started knocking rust off with my hammer and stopped when I saw a circular plug in it.

Picture is attached. Is it possible that this was a plug for powder or ordinance?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Chipping some rustcrust off, on directly-opposite sides of the ball, is the simplest way to measure its diameter, by using a caliper.

Your dilemma about the purpose of the circular plug is why super-precise size-measuring and weighing is crucially needed. It tells us whether the ball is a hollow one or a solid-bodied one, in addition to telling us whether it is an artillery ball or not.

In the photo, your metal ball next to the tape-measure appears to be "about" 2.5 to 2.75 inches in diameter, if you imaginarily strip off the thick rustcrust. You said the ball weighs 3 pounds. A solid (not hollow) cast-iron ball which weighs precisely 3.0 pounds will be 2.819-inches in diameter, according to the final chart in the US Ordnance Manual of 1861, here:
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

So, going by the "approximate" weight and size information you've provided, your ball is a solid one, not a hollow one (a "shell") -- and therefore, the circular plug in it CANNOT be "a plug for powder or ordinance."

If your 2.5"-to-2.75" ball was a hollow explosive one, it would be much lighter than 3 pounds. There is a civil war spherical cast-iron "ball grenade" which is 2.5-inches in diameter. It weighs 1 pound 4 ounces. (It is shown on page 500 of the 1993 edition of the book I wrote about civil war artillery projectiles and grenades.) That is an example of why super-precise weighing & measuring is crucially important for correctly distinguishing spherical Military projectiles from the millions of Civilian-usage balls.

 

[tcornel]

The post office weighed it at 2 pounds 2 ounces. The machine shop miked it at 2 3/8 to 2 7/16 depending on the rust.

Unless that ball grenade would weigh another another 14 ounces fully loaded it sounds like I have some kind of big ball bearing.

I appreciate the help.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Referring back to the "final chart" at the link I posted previously... a solid (not hollow) cast-iron ball which weighs precisely 2.0 pounds will be 2.46-inches in diameter. So, your ball which is "about" that diameter and weighs 2 pounds 2 ounces HAS TO BE a solid (not hollow) ball. Just replying to give you assurance that it absolutely is not a hollow explosive ball. Also, ball-bearings do not have a plug in them. Your solid ball might have been mounted on an iron rod which fit into a mounting-hole in the ball, and the ball was cut (or broken) off the rod, leaving the "stub" of the rod in the hole. Think of a stickshift-knob, or a handle-counterweight iron/steel ball, as seen in the photo below. Or, it might have been an "Ornamental Ironwork" ball, broken off of the top of an iron fence, or the top of a fireplace andiron.

 

[tcornel]

Thanks again for your help and education!