Step 7 - Howitzer Mount Design
The howitzer mount is both designed with practicality and style in mind. Really, for any cannon this big you will need some sort of mount to support it and take the stress off of the join connecting the chamber to the barrel.
The mount is able to do 4 principle things:
- Support the cannon for firing
- Supply a method for controlling the elevation of the gun
- Afford a means of transportation
- Keep the cannon from moving too much from recoil
I made the mount from spare wood and parts I found laying around my home, so it cost me little to no money.
Step 8 - Wheels, Axle, and Base
Wheels: The wheels were just two old spare tires I found laying around my yard. Old wheel barrow wheels will probably work as well.
I had to screw a piece of wood on both sides of the wheel and then drill a hole into the center of it (Figure 2). This allowed a 1 1/2 inch pipe to fit snugly through the tire.
Axle: The axle was made of a 1 1/2 inch steel pipe that was capped on the ends by two pipe tighteners.
Spacers : Two spacers were made of 3" long sections ABS pipe to separate the wheel from the base.
Base: The base is the wooden frame that fits on the axle and supports the cannon. This part is important to make strong as it will be taking a lot of weight. The base was made from 2 by 8 boards and screwed together to make a base two feet wide and two feet tall as shown in Figure 1.
Step 9 - Mount Trail
The trails will balance and support the mount when apart, and allow the mount to be towed when closed together. The trails are made of boards 6 1/2 feet long attached to a door hinge.
Step 10 - Cannon Cradle
The cradle is critical to make accurately since it will be directly holding the cannon. The main section is two 6 1/2 foot sections of board screwed together to form a 'V'. Then spacers for the different section of the cannon are screwed in at different intervals.
The spacers must be thick enough to support the different sized barrel and chamber. It will take some time to form them to the right thickness.
Step 11 - Final Construction of Mount
First, screw the trails onto either side of the base. Then construct a support for the cradle that can fit into a pipe running along the top of the base. Finally, get either two lengths of rope or two cargo straps and put one on either side of the base connecting the main axle to the cradle. this will provide a way of controlling elevation. You just tighten one and loosen the other to change the elevation.
Then, put some sort of cap on the cradle to prevent the cannon from sliding out and bunjee cord the cannon into the cradle