1861 Dahlgren 12 Pounder Cannon Civil War

This is my mainly 3D Printed version of an 1861 Dahlgren 12 Pounder Cannon.

This 12-pounder cannon was named after its designer, Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren "The “father of American naval ordnance” who was born in Philadelphia on 13 November 1809.

Dahlgren guns were designed with a smooth curved shape, equalizing strain and concentrating more on the weight of the metal in the gun breech. It's a bronze smooth bore muzzle loading artillery piece that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and extensively employed in the American Civil War.

John A.Dahlgren was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy in 1826. Six years later, due to his mathematical proficiency, the Navy ordered him to the U.S. Coast Survey, where he worked as a scientist from 1834–37. During this time, he also studied naval ordnance and how to improve it through new technology.

His next assignment was as an ordnance officer at the Washington Naval Yard.

Over a period of 15 years, from 1847 to 1862, he designed and produced several large-caliber naval guns including a boat howitzer and the eponymous Dahlgren gun—which would later become the most common cannon mounted on board U.S. Navy ships and in the field during the Civil War.

Fusion 360

3D Printer

PLA Brown

PLA Metal

2.5mm Galvanized wire

2mm Galvanized wire

CA Glue

CA Glue Accelerator

Pliers

I went online and found some free images of the Cannon that I thought might print reasonably well in component form.

This 1861 Dahlgren 12 Pounder will do nicely, I would like to use some other material as well in this project like Galvanized wire for the carriage lift handles etc.

I will copy the Image and use this as a reference throughout the design stages in Canvas form.

Please look at the screenshots to see how the designs for the Cannon were compiled.

Using Fusion 360 I sketched a rectangle for the axle, this is on an angle and needed to be oriented I will sketch and extrude all the wooden components from this starting point, with the axle extruded I started a new sketch and used the center plane to create the sketch for the main carriage, this was done mainly using the fit point spline tool, this component was extruded symmetrically, I've opted for a bigger scale design as there are a number of smaller components attached to the carriage and need the larger scale to get definition of these smaller components.

I used the combine tool and used the axle beam to cut into the main carriage, I will leave fillets etc to the end of the design as I will be using the center plane to sketch in components for the carriage.

I then sketched in the timber sides which support the barrel, this was just a case of creating an off-set plane from the side of the carriage and using the fit point spline tool and line tools I could sketch in the outline of the barrel support and extrude this to 6mm remembering that we can mirror this component from the center plane.

I opted to sketch the wheels next, again we only need to sketch and extrude one side as we can mirror the opposites along with axle components as they are identical.

I wanted a wheel which would print with no supports and the way I did this was to offset a face from the axle beam and sketch from this off-set plane, I created a center circle and off set this to the depth of the rim, I then created a center hub, and extruded this a little wider than the wheel rim, using the base of this hub, I created another face and sketched in a line from the hub to the outer rim, I then used the pipe tool to create a square spoke, this was protruding below the hub so I extruded upwards and then extruded the front face upwards to create 1 spoke, I filleted the outward facing edges to resemble a round spoke, At this point using the create circle pattern tool, I could select the body and create 12 spokes which is what we needed, the next thing to sketch within the wheel hub is a center circle for the axle, the final part for the wheel will be the outer ring of the wheel, which would have been made of metal and gives a nice contrast to the wheel, again a simple design, pick the face of the wheel to sketch on, project the outer of the wheel, off set this to 2mm and extrude to the depth of the wheel.

For the axle I would design a domed stud, with a center hole in which I could insert a pin, something like a cotter pin, made from Galvanized wire.

Using the canvas as my guide I could draw a center line through length of the barrel and then using the fit point spline and line tools I could sketch in the outline of one half of the barrel, Using the revolve tool and the through line as the axis the solid barrel is created, I used the shell tool to open the inside to 1.5mm.

I created the cannon pivot axis next, this was simple and using the center plane created a center circle and extruded this symmetrically to the edge of the barrel support.

The 3D Printing is pretty straight forward, the only component which needed support was the main carriage, auto supports form the build plate only was used and I printed the carriage and axle beam on one plate In brown PLA,, I then printed each wheel separately in the same.

For the metal items I had some PLA Metal, which looks really good in conjunction with the Brown PLA.

The Barrel was printed vertically, the barrel clamps were printed on their sides handed.

I managed to get both of the steel looking outer rings on one build plate, the rope holder was printed on it's side, the wheel inserts and pins printed as in the slicer screen shots.

To assemble, the axle beam is secured to the main carriage with CA Glue, the outer rings can be glued to wheels and the wheel inserts secured with CA Glue, the pins for the wheels are just push in.

The Carriage hook and rope holder are secured with CA Glue.

The Barrel and Axis are now fitted the Axis is pushed through the barrel and 2 spots of CA Glue on the bottom of the pins to hold in place, the barrel straps are secured with CA Glue.

To finish off the Cannon, Galvanized wire is used for the carriage lift handles and also the holders for the Rammer and Ladle and that is the Cannon finished.

I am really pleased with how the Cannon has turned out, the Brown and Metal PLA look great together.

Another project I have enjoyed completing and I've learned a thing or 2 about American History as well, that's sure to come in handy a quiz sometime, if only I could remember it when that time comes :))

Thanks for Looking.