studded shell disaster

[spotter]

I was given a nice solid looking studed shell at beltring in july,at first it seemed to be dry and stable,i cleaned the rust off gave it a bit of gloss black and polished the studs and the plug and it had pride of place on the fireplace.
I just looked over at it today and disaster.its blowing out allover the place :tinysmile_cry_t4::tinysmile_cry_t4:

 

[Fusse2004]

.

Looks like a rusty car!! With too much screeding compound harm.:tinysmile_cry_t4:

 

[waffenamt]

What on earth happened Spott?

waff

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Your shell;

Hey Spotter,
Your 'Woolwich System' shell probably made by Armstrong has been in salt water. The shell appears to be carbonized and more than likely weighs less than its original weight. There may also be a B.L. Plain Percussion fuze beneath that fuze plug. Woolwich System shell s, made at Woolwich Arsenal, will have the R/L stamped on base, those by Armstrong will have EOC stamped on the ogive.
Regards,
John aka Bart

 

[SG500]

Oh bad luck Spotter...............its called salt!
When things have been lying about in the sea for too long then the metal in the shell eventually gets replaced as the metal rusts and you end up with a shell with not much metal in it at all!! When it dries it cracks.
I've not done much sea recovered restoration work but the COW gun projectile I did is much the same, I dried, it (by standing it on top of the boiler for a month), rubbed off a layer, put on a decent layer of metal based filler, sanded it and then painted it, not a quick process but a combination of the air not getting to the corroded projectile plus the strength of the filler has done the job.
Dave.

 

[leeski]

thats a real shame spotter hopefully you can still restore her

regards lee

 

[Depotman]

Same Problem

Sympathies Spotter - I also had a studded 9-pr very similar to yours which I smoothed down and painted black. It looked superb for a few months and then expanded/exploded like yours. All I finally salvaged was the nose plug and some of the studs!
Trevor

 

[dano1917]

The shell would definately be worth the effort it would take to restore it. It is an awesome piece. Would take some time but go for it spotter...Dano

 

[spotter]

hello john its just a plug in an empty body,it did used to unscrew freely,
sounds familiar Depotman and i can now fully sympathise with you,its beyond further restoration,when it finally gives out at least ill have a plug and the studs to remind me of it

 

[2pounder]

restoring studed shell

If you salvage the studs by carefully removing them and any of the other brass bits when it gives them up its not a big job to make a new replica body using steel tube with a turned base fitted in, holes drilled in the sides to take the studs and a false ogive bored to take the fuze plug. Not original but better to look at than a pile of pieces. My opinion on the matter based on experience doing one for a friend a while ago. 2pr

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Request;

Spotter,
Are there any date stamps on one of the studs?
Could you provide a close up, well focused top, side and bottm view of the plug? The plug is shaped differently than the ones I have seen.
Regards,
John aka Bart

 

[spotter]

ill try take some tomorrow for you john

 

[Weasel]

Hi Spotter,
Thats a real shame it's broken up, perhaps another year of soaking and some electrolysis may be the way to go for the next one. Trail and error i think as 130 years under water is going to take its toll.
Best regards Weasel.

 

[spotter]

heres the pictures as requested john,,sorry but its best i can do (no camera have to use phone cam)

 

[botcheg]

Hi Spotter,
Thats a real shame it's broken up, perhaps another year of soaking and some electrolysis may be the way to go for the next one. Trail and error i think as 130 years under water is going to take its toll.
Best regards Weasel.

Hi all,
Was browsing and came across this thread. Here is a link to a site where a team of professionals are dealing with just this problem. It is the conservation and restoration of the CSS Hunley, a Confererate submarine lost during the American Civil War, February 17, 1864. Perhaps there will be techniques revealed in the ongoing process that we can apply.
Regards,
Bill

 

[mach1bang]

Hi spotter, this is very common with sea recovered items. At least you say it was a gift wasn't it?
I restored a few of these and it took about 2 1/2 years, some successful some not.
I contacted the Mary Rose project for advice. Started off by putting in stream for about 4 months, taking out periodicly, cleaning and chipping off raised rust blisters, then returning to stream. next leave to soak in dustbin full of fresh water for few months, occasionally changing water. Then add to last batch of water a 1 to 6 ratio of Sodium hidroxide, found as main ingredient in oven cleaner, can buy a gallon/5ltrs for 10.00 fron wholesaler, enough for 1 dustbin. This chemical is good for removing salts. finaly after few weeks hose off, cleanup with emery clothe, and let dryout slowly in cool place. Slowly warmup over few weeks. (Never use heat) must be patient.worth it in the end. finaly spray with clear laquer.
Hope this is useful to potential restorers.
Cheers Tim.

 

[beihan62]

Hi Spotter,That is a shame how it has turned out,I hope you will be able to salvage it in the end,
Regards,
Don,

 

[Darrol]

Its enough to make your heart sink . What a pitty.Have you tried milliput the two part apoxy putty ?.Its very good for a solid restoraton .they make it in black too.you have two hours tops from mixing to get it how you want then when set can be drilled turned and sanded.handy stuff to have.hope its not totaly lost.Darrol.

 

[spotter]

i posted this thread in 2009 and the projectile is long gone,,but thanks everyone for the tips on saving/preserving im sure other members will find them useful as well