cannonballs?

[ohiowhiteguy]

i found these with my brother near camp dennison ohio
they weigh 42 lbs. thanks..owg.

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Quite literally, millions of iron/steel balls have been manufactured for Civilian usage/purposes... never intended to be artillery projectiles. Some examples of non-artillery balls:
Mining-&-Stonemilling Industry rock-crusher balls (called Mill-balls)
Ornamental Ironwork balls (such as a gatepost-top)
Sports Shot Put balls
Counterweight balls.

So, we cannonball collectors had to find a 100%-reliable way to tell actual cannonballs from the various other kinds of iron balls. The answer is to consult Historical artillery data, which gives us the very precise diameter and very-exact weight of of every kind of cannonball ever used in battle in America. www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

Because super-precise measuring is crucially necessary, we "serious" collectors use super-precise tools. To measure the ball's weight, we use a digital Postal Shipping Scale, which measures in 1/10th-ounce graduations. You cannot trust household bathroom weighing-scales, which are typically inaccurate by 5% (especially when the object weighs less than 50 pounds).

For diameter, we use:
1- a Digital Caliper, which measures in (at least) 1/100th-of-an-inch increments.
2- if the ball is too large for a Digital Caliper, we use a Diameter-Tape (also called a Pi Tape).

If the ball is indeed an Artillery projectile (cannonball, grapeshot-ball, canister-ball), its precise measurements will match up (within a very few 100ths-inch and a few ounces) with one of the Artillery ball sizes specified by the Army and Navy Artillery Ordnance Departments in the historical records.

You will need to do the super-precise diameter and weight measuring. For detailed instructions on how to do the measuring correctly, please read this Educational article: SolidShotEssentialsMod

When you've gotten the ball's very-exact diameter and weight measurements, go to the following webpage and look for a precise match-up. (The sizes given include Civil War, and some War-of-1812 and Revolutionary War artillery balls.) If there is no match-up, the ball is not a cannonball. www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

Meanwhile... your photos show one hole, approximately 3/8-inch wide or a bit less, in the ball. Are there any other holes in the ball, or is that the only one? I'm asking because I've seen some non-artillery balls which have four small holes, spaced equidistantly around thei ball's equator ...meaning, 90 degrees apart. You may need to look closely for the other holes, because they're often plugged up with rust/dirt-crust.

 

[ohiowhiteguy]

yes there are 4 holes equally spaced...

 

[kuger]

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Thanks for confirming what I suspected. The 4-small-holes balls are not an artillery projectile. None of those have ever been excavated from a civil war era artillery site. Also, the 4-small-holes balls are made of Steel -- and there were no Steel roundshells in the civil war.

For many years, cannonball scholars have been trying to discover what those steel balls actually are. They don't match up with the precise size-&-weight of any known cannonballs (or cannon caliber). During the past several decades, literally hundreds of them have turned up on the civil war artillery market (always in non-excavated condition), being advertized as cannonballs. But, for the several reasons listed above, they absolutely are not a cannonball. The majority have been discovered at scrap metal recyclers.

I've been hoping to come across somebody who knows what they actually are, but thus far I've had no luck. So I've also been hoping that the location they're found at would give us a solid clue about their ID. Please tell us about how and where you found yours. If you'd prefer to keep that information confidential, send me a Private Message. Thanks.

 

[Sheldon J]

They also use iron balls in a mill as pulverizers in coal power plants, short version they grind the coal to dust then blow it in the boiler...

 

[Gold Maven]

I remodeled an old jail built in the mid 1800's. The 2 story cell block was made of large stone slabs stacked like a big house of cards. We enlarged doorways, and cut holes for an elevator shaft, and we found no fasteners holding the slabs together, just their weight, 8" thick, but every 2 ft. or so where a vertical slab rested on a floor slab, there were little pockets chiseled out of each slab, and a round steel ball inserted to keep them from shifting. About 2 1/2 or 3 inch diameter.

 

[Jmichael]

i have what i was told is a cannonball from the civil war. it weighs about 150 lbs, and is the size of a basketball. does anyone have an idea of what time frame its from? or if it's worth anything?
Can someone help?

 

[taz42o]

Jmichael,
Did you read cannonballguys first post? He explains exactly how to tell if it is or is not a cannon ball.
Once you find out If it is a cannon ball and witch one then you can work on age and value.

SolidShotEssentialsMod

 

[bman3725]

could these be large ball bearings of some sort from large equipment being that they may be steel dated that far back cannonballguy? I worked for our local paper mill which was built in 1939 and ive seen some of these balls in the museum part of the plant that look very similar, heck some were so big and heavy they were just placed to the side of the newer machines put in during the 1950's and these bad boys were as big as a recliner and larger.

In that part of Ohio were there any major industries say back in the late 1800's to early 1900's ohiowhiteguy? i know there are some paper mills in that state ive been there for training on new equipment we would get in from time to time

 

[minuteman]

Maybe Cannonballguy can answer this one. I have what appears to be a hollow cannon ball, 5 1/2 inches in diameter, with four holes placed evenly around its circumference. I've always assumed it to be an incendiary shell, and the holes are to allow "Greek Fire" or similar burning substance to flow out and start fires. It is pitted on one side, as if it lay on the ground for a long time. I have a photo of it, but it's not obvious how I can post it in this forum.

 

[acepro]

hi, Iwas wondering if you could check out my post about my war of 1812 bar shot?
thanks,
AcePro

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Minuteman, I see you are brand-new here (one post at as of today). Welcome to TreasureNet and its "What-Is-It?" forum, the best place on the internet for getting unknown objects CORRECTLY identified.

Your ball seems to be one of the mysterious 20th Century 4-hole Steel balls I mentioned in my reply to the Original Poster of this discussion-thread. It is definitely not a cannonball, nor an Incendiary "carcass shell." That type of artillery projectile had all of its holes on one side of the ball. There is no exception to that rule, because if one of the holes was next to the cannon's firing-blast, the ball would fracture upon firing. Therefore, the artillerymen who were loading a cannon would always be very careful to position a Carcass Shell's hole-less side against the cannon's powder-charge.

To see an examples of an actual Carcass Shell, and learn about them, go here:
Cannon - Incendiaries & Chemical Projectiles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcass_(projectile)

All of that being said... your 4-hole ball is interesting to me, because I haven't previously seen one whose holes are wide-open, nor one which is less than about 6.7 inches in diameter. If possible, please weight it on a Postal Shipping scale to get its precisely-measured weight, and measure its diameter with a Pi-Tape (also called a Diameter-Tape). If that's too much trouble to go to when it's definitely not a cannonball, I'll understand, and drop the request.

 

[minuteman]

CannonballGuy, I measured the mystery ball with a sliding carpenter's rule, and came up with just under 5 1/2 inches, maybe 5 7/16. It weighs 9.8 pounds. I didn't try taking something that looks like a bomb into the
Post Office to weigh, so I used a very accurate bathroom scale, and it read the same thing 3 times in a row. The metal is about 1/2 inch thick. I had previously corresponded with a place that sells repro
cannonballs, and they thought that it was an incendiary, and possibly quite old. I trust your judgement, but the really fascinating thing is that nobody seems to know what these four-hole balls are or are
used for. I've had it for over 50 years, and took it home from my high school, where it was being used as a practice shotput. Thinking it might be a cannonball, I worried that it might break if it hit something
solid. It whistled when thrown. So the mystery continues.

 

[bman3725]

Very interesting indeed. For the approximate size you have in measurement the weight is light for a cannonball. The 18 pounder was 5.7" and weighed 18.3 lbs. Next up was the 24 pounder at 5.68 and weighing 24.3lbs. Thats civil war era rounds i know of cannonballguy would know more. What part of the country did this come from minuteman? Also are all 4 holes identical in shape, size, and milling? Also you said 1/2 inch thick was that the diameter of the hole openings?

B

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

No offense, but I have to speak up about the incorrect size information. An 18-Pounder caliber cannonball was specified to be 5.17-nches in diameter, not 5.7 inches. (Was that a typo-error, leaving out the 1 in 5.17 inches?)
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

 

[minuteman]

Bman, the holes are 1/2 inch wide, and the thickness of the metal is also 1/2 inch. TheCannonballGuy doubts if this is actually a cannonball, but I'm wondering if it could be from an earlier era, either
British or American.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Minuteman, thank you for doing your best to provide accurate diameter and weight measurements.

At 5&7/16-to5&1/2-inches, it is absolutely not a cannonball, because there is no match-up for that size in the Ordnance Manual's listing of cannonball sizes used in North America. Nor is there any match-up for its 9.8 pound weight in the weights of shells (hollow cannonballs). Also, your 5.5"-diameter ball's "shellwalls" being only 1/2-inch thick means it is not an artillery roundshell... because that is too thin to withstand the amount of firing-blast needed to propel that big a ball out of the cannon. For example, the smaller-than-your-ball 18-Pounder caliber (5.18"-diameter) roundshell's walls were 1-inch thick.

All of that being said... your ball being quite thin-walled and having four fair-sized open holes spaced 90-degrees apart on its equator are the clues I needed to get a reasonable idea of its identity. Those clues indicate it is what we collectors call a "Monument-Ball." Those are made for battlefield (and military cemetery) monuments, to create a stack of "cannonballs" by attaching the balls together with iron rods. To save money on the cost of the iron, the balls have thin walls instead of being solid (or thick walled). I cannot be 100% be 100% certain that your ball is a Monument-Ball, but that seems to be the most likely answer to the riddle.

Also, since you said you found it at a high-school, I should mention that school students are known to be notorious for stealing Monument-Balls. Just ask the park rangers at Gettysburg National Battlefield Park.

 

[bman3725]

Yes Cbguy sorry that was a typo. Im also in your court not thinking its a cannonball. That's why i inquired on what part of the country he is from. Im thinking industrial

 

[bman3725]

Scratch industrial cbguy you never cease to amaze/teach me. Thanks.