NJ Art
New member
These finds are from my last field hunt for the season. Finding cannon "bar shot" was a total surprise. When I first picked it up I thought, that's the craziest door knob. It took a few seconds for my memory to click in, might as well have been pure gold when it did, rays of light shooting out of it, swear I saw a halo too. Still riding the excitement. The bar shot is 10 inches long and has a diameter of 3 inches, it weighs 3 lbs., 13 ounces. I just started the cleaning process getting it ready for annealing to knock off the rest of the scabby unseen scale then into my blasting room for a baking soda cleaning then into a bath for a few days. I have spent about 5 hours peening the rust off. After getting the metal to this point I had discovered multiple plow strikes that coincide with the two bends. I wasn't going to straighten it but after seeing the telltale plow strikes I made my decision. The cleaning process is about halfway there, much to do. I cleaned two previously found cannon shot, one I waxed after cleaning the other I dropped into an oil quench and let it soak. The waxed one rusted up slightly after 10 years the one dropped in oil remained black with no rust. I repeened them both and found that the oil had arrested the rust under missed areas, whereas the waxed one was rust under the missed scale, food for thought.
https://www.amrevmuseum.org › collection › bar-shot-chain-shot-and-cannonball
The many smalls that filled my paper plate were spread far and wide. My favorite is the King George the III trade weight, my first that is marked from over the pond. Most of the coins were very deep, the ground has very bad drainage that resulted in the coins being almost wiped, a Large Cent, Liberty Cap. Buttons including a general service. A crushed silver spoon bowl with a makers mark of S. P. The gray musket flint stuck out like a soar thumb against the dark ground. Play money depicting, Buffalo Bill from Mazuma gum boxes 1934.
When I arrived home I placed the bar shot on the kitchen table with a paper towel under it and cracked a celebratory beer, I didn't even get a chance to sit when my wife said, get that rusted thing off my table. I retreated to my work shop with my shot and beer in hand and realized that its not my kitchen table anymore.
https://www.amrevmuseum.org › collection › bar-shot-chain-shot-and-cannonball
The many smalls that filled my paper plate were spread far and wide. My favorite is the King George the III trade weight, my first that is marked from over the pond. Most of the coins were very deep, the ground has very bad drainage that resulted in the coins being almost wiped, a Large Cent, Liberty Cap. Buttons including a general service. A crushed silver spoon bowl with a makers mark of S. P. The gray musket flint stuck out like a soar thumb against the dark ground. Play money depicting, Buffalo Bill from Mazuma gum boxes 1934.
When I arrived home I placed the bar shot on the kitchen table with a paper towel under it and cracked a celebratory beer, I didn't even get a chance to sit when my wife said, get that rusted thing off my table. I retreated to my work shop with my shot and beer in hand and realized that its not my kitchen table anymore.
