🥇 BANNER Intact James Shell...Never In My Wildest Dreams!

[garren]

I would have never dreamed I would get an intact James shell from a hay field 16" deep with a 5X8 coil. I can't believe I found an artillery shell, period!

I also found a round iron ball nearby. I guess its safe to say it's grape shot given this location?

I have a few questions...Its hard researching from a hotel and I cant go cleaning on this shell here.

Will this have a fuse? or is there a James with a solid nose?
I was under the impression that all James' had to be drilled to make them inert. Are any solid?
Was the James Confederate, Union or both?



**Updating - Nov 2016 with a pic of the finished shell.

 

[garren]

It won the gold!

 

[Palmetto Pony]

Congrats Garren. You did a super nice job restoring the shell and deserve it!

 

[garren]

Congrats Garren. You did a super nice job restoring the shell and deserve it!

Thanks Palmetto. You guys were a big help on this project!

 

[JobIII]

That's pretty sweet! Great find, excellent job bringing it back.

 

[Diamondman307]

Congrats for getting into the American Digger Magazine!

 

[garren]

Congrats for getting into the American Digger Magazine!

I did??!! That's cool! I haven't seen it!

 

[Diamondman307]

In fact, your artillery shell is smack dab in the middle of the title page!

 

[Diamondman307]

Here are some pictures!
View attachment 1449863
View attachment 1449864

 

[4x4x4]

that is why i never drill mine. i dry them out over the fireplace.

....dude !

 

[Diamondman307]

Wait, pictures didn't come out correctly....

 

[4x4x4]

Wait, pictures didn't come out correctly....

View attachment 1449866
View attachment 1449867

....So , when you "dropped it on the dirt pile" , did your butt get a little tight ?
Great eye and restoration....congratulations !

 

[garren]

....So , when you "dropped it on the dirt pile" , did your butt get a little tight ?
Great eye and restoration....congratulations !

This is the truth...no exaggeration...I had a headache that whole day, borderline migraine. When that shell came out of the hole intact it was like someone hit me with a shot of morphine! I was cured!

 

[CHIPEOD]

Hello Garren, I am a bomb disposal technician at fort Bragg NC and I am planning on doing a similar process for 3 civil was cannon balls do you have any lessons learned that I can use to make mine look as good as your final product

We had 700 of them but the other 697 were disposed of by detonation at the range [emoji19] we retained these 3 for our unit trophy case

 

[CHIPEOD]

 

[CHIPEOD]

 

[garren]

Hello Garren, I am a bomb disposal technician at fort Bragg NC and I am planning on doing a similar process for 3 civil was cannon balls do you have any lessons learned that I can use to make mine look as good as your final product View attachment 1479217

We had 700 of them but the other 697 were disposed of by detonation at the range [emoji19] we retained these 3 for our unit trophy case

It's ashamed all of those were destroyed but at least you saved three.

Everything I learned was from other forum members. To sum it up:
Electrolysis with washing soda instead of baking soda at 3-4 amps. Control amperage with the amount of soda you add to the water.
I would check mine every evening and chip away any crust I could get loose and then put it back in the tank.
Once all corrosion was gone (24 days for mine) I sandblasted it then boiled it in several clean water changes to remove any residual soluble salts.
Then one last sandblasting and wiring brushing.
To preserve mine I opted for tannic acid conversion. After it dries it will be jet black. I used Rustoleum brand "Rust Reformer".
I ended up adding a satin clear coat to even out the sheen. Satin wasn't too shiny and better looking than flat.

 

[CHIPEOD]

Fantastic I will try to duplicate