25 Pounder info needed.

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Wait till ya see what the next little project is. Rob Nixon knows already. Should do, he got me the bits I needed....again.

Wouldn't happen to be the 25pdr uncut barrel Rob has for sale would it?

Regards Rick.

[Private_collector]

Rick, I do wish that were the case, but no. Much more unremarkable, sadly. The barrel is one item I dare not use an original. Such a purchase would have both Rob and I on several countries terrorist watch lists. That's something I would like to avoid, so I will be sticking with my pale imitation.
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That said, if anybody has carriage or cradle for sale, PLEASE CONTACT ME! Those items would be a huge boost to the build. I missed a genuine, good condition, platform on ebay once, because i considered the southern state it was located in, to be too far to travel to get it. That is a mistake I would not make again.
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Once the sight assembly is done, the next job will be the creation of the hand spike mechanisms x3.
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My most recent purchase was the above items. Quite rare items they would be too.
They are bigger, and heavier, than they look. You push the pedal down.....and the pawl raises up, allowing the withdrawl of the hand spikes from the tapered socket it locks into. Take a look at the next post to see what occurs if massive force is applied to one of these pedals without the pawl having freedom of movement.

[Private_collector]

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So here are the three sets needed for each gun.
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Look closely at the engineering which has gone into each pedal. It's VERY strong. A nice deap channel runs around the shaft, where i gather grease is provided. You also see the small hole right through the centre of each channel, affording better lubricant movement.
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Now look what has occured to the hole through the shaft shown above. The hole has clearly been distorted by the twisting of the shaft at the weakest point, right through that hole! HOW MUCH FORCE WOULD BE NEEDED TO DO THAT!! Incredible. It's not a problem for me, because it doesn't impede functionality, but I can't get my head around what must have been done to this little piece. You will also note, there is absolutely no damage to the flat of the pedal itself. Why? Surely something that damaging would have left some trace of impact damage to the pedal surface, but there is nothing at all. Fascinating.

[jack neville]

I would guess it has been seized and some leverage applied to free it. There is evidence of the shaft having been filed or similar as it doesn't look machined round anymore.

[Private_collector]

Yes Jack, I agree. There is also some cross-hatched markings there, perhaps the marks left by a tight clamping in a vice. The filing would be to return the shaft to a state where pawl would still fit back on, because it has a flat portion to prevent it slipping when the pedal shaft actuates. Curious there isn't any evidence of rust, or where rust had been, to indicate exactly wht might have become 'stuck'. I wonder if a pawl it was used with may have been welded in place, completely 'jamming' it that way. The pawls I have are not necessarily the ones originally mated to the pedals. I do know these things are 'rocking horse' rare, and I'm very pleased to have these to work with. The slight damage to the one pedal is nothing to worry about. Especially the case when you consider rarity and the very light duty mine will receive from now on. Impressive they have survived 70+ years without being scrapped.

I probably mentioned previously that my Wifes Mother passed away mid/late last year, and on one recent trip to her farm for clearing and sorting, I became aware of two lengths of timber dowel that she would use to hold her quilting work taut, while working. These lengths of timber would easily be 6ft, and perhaps 2" across, solid wood. I don't know at this stage whether those are hardwood or not, but to me they look quite suitable for making the handspike themselves. Neither of the two girls (Wife & her Sister) are interested in quilting, so I have claimed the timber for myself! They are not easy to get to, but once I've retrieved them for closer look, I will measure precise width, for suitability. Hope they will do the job. My problem then will be to manufacture the metal ends that lock into the mechanisms I'm making. At some point, machined metal ends need to be attached to the timber poles, and I prefer that the timber is turned down on a lathe, for best fit. The question is, what the hell type of wood lathe takes 6 foot lengths between the centres??? My welder mate, across the road, will have some thoughts on this, I imagine. Perhaps a jerry-rigged setup using two lathes (he does have at least 2 wood lathes).

[rnixartillery]

Most of the parts I have are take offs, so there is one reason or another for this and unfortunately damage or wear is the most common but as I have mentioned to another forum member something is better than nothing especially if you have start to make something from scratch it can be mighty expensive !

Rob................rnixartillery.

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by rnixartillery

Most of the parts I have are take offs, so there is one reason or another for this and unfortunately damage or wear is the most common but as I have mentioned to another forum member something is better than nothing especially if you have start to make something from scratch it can be mighty expensive !

Rob................rnixartillery.

Absolutely! Nothing decades old is pristine any more. There's nothing that makes any of my parts undesirable. Why do we restore MVs? Because they're not perfect, right? That is the lot of the restorer. To find NOS anything these days would be almost unheard of. I'm well pleased with all my purchases. If not, wouldn't have bought them, and only reason I mention that one pedal is for curiosity value of what must have occured in dark past. Quite possibly an 'in service' repair job. Getting any piece of this great big puzzle is always exciting, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

My hand spikes will be timber, as they will only be for show. Ideally they will be sanded very smooth and painted to disguise that fact. As Rob said, the real McCoy would be hugely expensive to ship. I don't have any opportunity to catch a ride in someone elses container. To be perfectly frank, I really don't need the spikes at all. Most guns no longer have them anyway, al least the ones I see on display don't. Mine will be remaining in their holding brackets. I would like the part that fits into the socket to be made of metal, but if that isn't practical, then the timber can be turned to simulate that.

Jack, I won't need a six foot lathe bed. The wooden poles are presently 6ft long. Whatever the original length is, those poles will be shortened to that size, but even if half that size, I don't think my friends lathe/s are that long. His metal lathe, like most of those type, has the ability to have a long portion of the pole sticking out of the rear of the chuck. That should be a workable proposition. He says the speed will have to be set correctly or the portion out behind his chuck will start to wobble. How much wobble, we won't know until tested, and the density of the wood will also play a part. If pre-cut to around 3ft length, wobble shouldn't be a problem really.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

hardwood or not, but to me they look quite suitable for making the handspike themselves.).

All the handspikes I ever see are of Cdn manufacture. To this date they have all been metal...no wood. Were they done differently down under?

Regarding the two lathes together, I have seen it done at a neighbours for metal working. I, personally have also turned wood on my metal lathe making cleaning rods for my 105....worked out very nicely.

[jack neville]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Yes Jack, I agree. There is also some cross-hatched markings there, perhaps the marks left by a tight clamping in a vice. The filing would be to return the shaft to a state where pawl would still fit back on, because it has a flat portion to prevent it slipping when the pedal shaft actuates. Curious there isn't any evidence of rust, or where rust had been, to indicate exactly wht might have become 'stuck'. I wonder if a pawl it was used with may have been welded in place, completely 'jamming' it that way. The pawls I have are not necessarily the ones originally mated to the pedals. I do know these things are 'rocking horse' rare, and I'm very pleased to have these to work with. The slight damage to the one pedal is nothing to worry about. Especially the case when you consider rarity and the very light duty mine will receive from now on. Impressive they have survived 70+ years without being scrapped.

I probably mentioned previously that my Wifes Mother passed away mid/late last year, and on one recent trip to her farm for clearing and sorting, I became aware of two lengths of timber dowel that she would use to hold her quilting work taut, while working. These lengths of timber would easily be 6ft, and perhaps 2" across, solid wood. I don't know at this stage whether those are hardwood or not, but to me they look quite suitable for making the handspike themselves. Neither of the two girls (Wife & her Sister) are interested in quilting, so I have claimed the timber for myself! They are not easy to get to, but once I've retrieved them for closer look, I will measure precise width, for suitability. Hope they will do the job. My problem then will be to manufacture the metal ends that lock into the mechanisms I'm making. At some point, machined metal ends need to be attached to the timber poles, and I prefer that the timber is turned down on a lathe, for best fit. The question is, what the hell type of wood lathe takes 6 foot lengths between the centres??? My welder mate, across the road, will have some thoughts on this, I imagine. Perhaps a jerry-rigged setup using two lathes (he does have at least 2 wood lathes).

Why do you need a 6' lathe bed? The spikes are only about 3' long or thereabouts. Cut the wood in half. Rob Nixon had some made a while ago. He might have some left.

[rnixartillery]

I do have handspikes Jack but as you are aware posting these heavy items to Oz is so expensive. Tony and I experienced this when I tried to ship a sight assembly weighing 37kg's , sharing a container is the solution if one is going !

Going Back to 25 pdr handspikes they were only made from steel ,wooden ones just wont be strong enough.

Rob.................rnixartillery.