LumberJocks

Candy Cannon

Project by FJPetruso posted 720 days ago 1807 views 2 times favorited 16 comments Add to Favorites Watch

This is a project I made for the re-enactments that I attend. I fashioned this “Candy Cannon” after the Civil War era Coehorn Mortar. The candy cannon is loaded with a bit of black powder & some wadding & then topped of with generous handfulls of wrapped candy. You know… butterscotch, mints, taffy, gumballs, etc. When the cannon is ignited & goes off, the candy is launched about tree-top level (about 100 to 150 feet up) & as the candy comes down, the kids then run from BEHIND the candy cannon & chase after all the candy they can find. It’s loads of fun for all the kids… the small ones & us BIG ones! If anyone wishes I can e-mail a short 5 meg video of all us kids having a “blast”.

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"


16 comments so far

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9871 posts in 999 days


posted 720 days ago

Interesting! I just went to a re-enactment of a civil war prison camp this morning.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View rikkor's profile

rikkor

11328 posts in 885 days


posted 720 days ago

Pretty interesting. You’d probably go to jail if you tried that in Minnesota.

View Dadoo's profile

Dadoo

1728 posts in 1001 days


posted 720 days ago

Too cool! I bet the kids love it!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

View pappyjohn's profile

pappyjohn

138 posts in 724 days


posted 720 days ago

Frank, Pretty neat looking canon, I see by the pivot rod that you can shoot in either direction. I’m with Rikkor though, If I’d fire that around hear I’d have alot of uniforms in blue….your brother in woodworking John

-- Your Brother in WoodWorking John, Pittsburgh , PA.

View FJPetruso's profile

FJPetruso

187 posts in 721 days


posted 720 days ago

Yes, I see you all have noticed most of my friends & I are Politically Incorrect. But that being said, we have a historic city & the city fathers are historic minded. We have used the candy cannon in various parks in St.Louis County & in the City of Florissant. Other groups use their candy cannons at various events in towns in counties all over Missouri. Just as you suggested might happen… A couple of years back, two of Florissant’s finest noticed our candy cannon on display & inquired… “You fellows aren’t planning on shooting that thing in the city, are you?” We explained that everything was pre-arranged with the mayor, their dispatcher had been notified, all safety rules were to be adhered to & we have an actual permit from the mayor. Later in the day, those same cops were marveling at how much fun was had by all. I’m sure there’s re-enactors (especially Civil War re-enactors with BIG cannons) in PA & MN too & you probably just haven’t heard about it. It’s a lot of fun & you’ll find lots of woodcrafty ideas at these events. Some of the projects that I’m going to post have come from some of these events. I’ll try to point that out in some of the project descriptions.

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

15238 posts in 1172 days


posted 720 days ago

sometimes we are just too safety-minded and prohibit the best of fun!!!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View Grumpy's profile

Grumpy

15277 posts in 862 days


posted 720 days ago

Sounds like a blast.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

View Betsy's profile

Betsy

2386 posts in 907 days


posted 720 days ago

The munitions in that cannon are okie dokie. I can see the kids running in my minds eye. Pretty nifty.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

View BarryW's profile

BarryW

889 posts in 918 days


posted 720 days ago

post the video to You Tube and link it here…then everybody can see at the same time…it’s not too tough…kinda like posting pictures from Flickr or some place like it. there are some pretty good directions on using video in the blogs section.

-- /\/\/\ BarryW /\/\/\ Stay so busy you don't have time to die.

View Tom Adamski's profile

Tom Adamski

309 posts in 782 days


posted 720 days ago

I bet if you made it bigger to fire donuts, the cops would like it too…

-- Anybody can become a woodworker, but only a Craftsman can hide his mistakes.

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

25329 posts in 833 days


posted 720 days ago

This is a really interesting project. I am sure that the kids love it.

Thanks for the post.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View ND2ELK's profile

ND2ELK

8241 posts in 785 days


posted 720 days ago

Questions :

1. How is the cannon itself is made?
2. What materials are used and there sizes?
3. How is the cannon loaded and fired?
4. How much black powder is used?

Black powder is dangerious stuff if you do not know what your doing. I had a brother who lost an eye to black powder because he did not know what he was doing with a toy cannon.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

View ratchet's profile

ratchet

437 posts in 798 days


posted 719 days ago

Very nice.
I have a small mortar as well and would like to see the base of the mortar tube and connection to base method.

As info: its legal in many states to fire black powder cannon’s as long as the barrel isn’t rifled. Check with your state as YMMV.

Show me your video.

View FJPetruso's profile

FJPetruso

187 posts in 721 days


posted 719 days ago

BarryW, Tom & Ratchet…

Send me your e-mail address & I’ll send you a video.

Frank

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"

View redbajabug's profile

redbajabug

6 posts in 467 days


posted 465 days ago

nicest candy cannion I have seen. Most are plywood and PVC

went to a shoot in Montana and they put small bottles of alcohol in and shot it off, just dont use glass bottles

View mcoyfrog's profile

mcoyfrog

941 posts in 605 days


posted 333 days ago

Cool idea

-- Wood and Glass they kick (well you know) Have a great day - Dug

You must be signed in to post the comments.

  • View all advertisers
  • Advertise with us

DISCLAIMER: Any posts on LJ are posted by individuals acting in their own right and do not necessarily reflect the views of LJ. LJ will not be held liable for the actions of any user.

Latest Projects | Latest Blog Entries | Latest Forum Topics

HomeRefurbers.com

Latest Projects | Latest Blog Entries | Latest Forum Topics

GardenTenders.com :: gardening showcase