Hi all, I have an item i'm trying to identify that I was told is a 6lb cannonball but it has a small metal plate inside a hole that was sealed with wax.
I got it from ebay as a possible cannonball having been found in an estuary on the south coast where gunnery training was practised around 1800.
I researched how to stabalise it properly using electrolysis and when I started the cleaning process discovered the hole in the side appx 30deg above the equator where you can clearly see the two halves of the cast.
I have attached a pic.
It is 28.5cm in circumfrence making it bang on for a six pound shot of some kind but am rather worried that it might now be a hollow shot. There is no place for a fuse of any kind so was happy that it wasnt a grenade or filled with powder and I dont know how it could have powder without some way of getting it in?
I want to give it as a present and dont want to make any mistakes.
the link to the preservation methods I studied is below.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/crl/conservationmanual/ConservationManual.pdf
I got it from ebay as a possible cannonball having been found in an estuary on the south coast where gunnery training was practised around 1800.
I researched how to stabalise it properly using electrolysis and when I started the cleaning process discovered the hole in the side appx 30deg above the equator where you can clearly see the two halves of the cast.
I have attached a pic.
It is 28.5cm in circumfrence making it bang on for a six pound shot of some kind but am rather worried that it might now be a hollow shot. There is no place for a fuse of any kind so was happy that it wasnt a grenade or filled with powder and I dont know how it could have powder without some way of getting it in?
I want to give it as a present and dont want to make any mistakes.
the link to the preservation methods I studied is below.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/crl/conservationmanual/ConservationManual.pdf