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18 pounder flared case

Andysarmoury

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Hi, I have a nice 18 pounder case but the neck has been flared out, The question is has anybody managed to get it back, any suggestions welcome.
Cheers
Andy
 

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That must be a extremely rare base stamp to go through all the trouble of de-flaring it. Quite impossible to do that invisible without professional industrial tools.

Regards, DJH
 
If you own a lathe have a look at the "metal spinning" process. It requires glowing the case to make the brass soft prior to work start and most probably also during work. The brass becomes hard very quickly during metal spinning.

But to hold such a case a very large lathe is required and you must machine a special chuck for exactly the 18-pr case size to hold it safely. Like@pzgr40 said I also think it's not worth the effort.

Another idea would be to use a Standard three jaw chuck and something like a support mounted steady rest with three rolls wich can be adusted in diameter. I think this would be the easier way and it's possible on a smaller lathe too. But it's still a lot of work for a 18-pr case.

Independent of which method is used the case will be longer after metal spinning and must be trimmed back to original length.

I once used metal spinning to produce a tapered brass fuze cap for a very rare anti balloon gun fuze. I used an old russian 23 mm case and shaped it as I needed. The small part of the cone had a thinner diameter than the 23 mm case originally had. But most part of it had to be widened to a larger diameter. The right side in the picture is showing the old deformated 23 mm case mouth.

Brass is a very nice material for metal spinning but only if it is in good condition. If the case mouth has fine hair cracks you can forget it.
 

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Generally when they've been flared that far the brass has been stretched too much to go back without rippling. It's a common old Kynoch case, so easier just to get another one and leave that one as a vase.
 
If you own a lathe have a look at the "metal spinning" process. It requires glowing the case to make the brass soft prior to work start and most probably also during work. The brass becomes hard very quickly during metal spinning.

But to hold such a case a very large lathe is required and you must machine a special chuck for exactly the 18-pr case size to hold it safely. Like@pzgr40 said I also think it's not worth the effort.

Another idea would be to use a Standard three jaw chuck and something like a support mounted steady rest with three rolls wich can be adusted in diameter. I think this would be the easier way and it's possible on a smaller lathe too. But it's still a lot of work for a 18-pr case.

Independent of which method is used the case will be longer after metal spinning and must be trimmed back to original length.

I once used metal spinning to produce a tapered brass fuze cap for an very rare anto balloon gun fuze. I used a old russian 23 mm case and shaped it as I needed.

Thanks Alpini, I originally got the case as i wanted to section it, i only have a wood lathe so i might have a go on that, but just wanted some ideas. many thanks for you suggestions,
cheers
Andy
 
I haven’t tried this but have read of it being done.
Anneal the case mouth to soften the brass.
Put a hardwood former into the case to support it.
Use a large Jubilee clip to apply pressure to squeeze the mouth a bit smaller.
Repeat the anneal / apply pressure routine until you have removed the flaring and then trim the case to correct length.

 
Andy.
I have straightened many cases like yours with varied success using the old soft hammer and about 1 hour labour. Anneal it first and I use various bits of pipe diameters welded to 1" square rod. Held in a vice. The mouth gradually makes folds where it was overstretched but keep tapping and then use a metal 1" hammer and flatten the small folds. Takes a bit of time and best saved for a very rare case due to the effort. I then use a flap disc to grind the excess off and make it presentable with a file for the case length. Then polish it. Your case is about the maximum flare to hit back. I would like to try the lathe spinning method but have no lathe. Just my thoughts as an alternate no cost method to repair cases that are Trench Vandalism and not Trench Art in my opinion. Ron.
 
Thanks for that Ron, its just what i was doing i first Anneal the top and slowly worked away at it with a wooden mallet, having first inserted a metal rod, it started to fold in places but they soon came out with a hammer, this is how far i have got with it, will do some more to it later.
Cheers
Andy
 

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Andy.
Looks like you have reached the hard part where you should cone the mouth in a bit and try to stop the cookie-cutter effect from the flaring. When I said I grind the mouth I meant I barely removed and high spots with a 320 grit flap disc. Do not remove much metal. Slight ripples usually remain but the patina makes them less noticable with time. This is where the spinning method is possibly a better option? Have fun. Ron.
 
shrinking brass that far is virtually impossible,like darkman says once its gone that far its too far gone
 
So how have you got on so far with it up to know, looks like you are getting there so far.
 
So how have you got on so far with it up to know, looks like you are getting there so far.

I haven't done anymore as yet, still scratching my head on how to proceed, if only you could resize it :) i will let you know the out come :)
cheers
Andy
 
Andy, just re read your post, looks like you are well on the way to getting rid of the flaring, I hope you were hitting the brass with a stroking motion toward the open end not just bashing at 90 deg to the axis. by drawing it forward you loose some of the extra metal into length that can be trimmed back to a marked line at the correct length. did it with a 120 bat case a long while ago and it came out ok
 
Andy, just re read your post, looks like you are well on the way to getting rid of the flaring, I hope you were hitting the brass with a stroking motion toward the open end not just bashing at 90 deg to the axis. by drawing it forward you loose some of the extra metal into length that can be trimmed back to a marked line at the correct length. did it with a 120 bat case a long while ago and it came out ok

Thanks 2pounder, Yes i done some more today and yes i am hinting it with a stroking motion its nearly there, i might try putting a hardwood former in the case and spin it in my wood lathe and try and press the last bit out.
cheers
Andy
 
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