The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1890-03-14
BORING A CANNON.
Work That Requires Considerable Care
and Unlimited Patience.


and Unlimited Patience.
At last the cannon is turned down,
and is ready to be bored inside. In this
operation it must be bored so straight
and true that the boring tool, entering
at the exact center OF the small end of
the cannon, will come out precisely at
the center of the large end, seventeen
feet away. Those of you who have tried
TO bore a straight hole lengthwise
through even short bit of wood will
know that this work requires not little
skill and care.
When any Of you boys have job OF
boring to do at your workbench, you
make fast the article TO be bored and
turn the boring tool. It's just the other
way in boring a cannon. The boring
tool or ''bit" is held firm and motionless,
while the great mass Of steel TO be bored
turns around This plan is found to in
sure steadiness of the bit" 1t would be
almost impossible to make this bit firm
and solid enough TO do its difficult work,
and yet free TO turn around in the can
non. So if you had been at the side Of
this gun-lathe when the work was be-
gun you would have seen that the bit
was motionless-except for slow ad-
vance into the gun.
The bit attends strictly to business,
and steadily bores its way through the
steel. Most of you have been 20 the
country and have seen pig roofing
in the ground. Imagine, then, pig to
be standing still and the ground to be
Slowly passing under the pigs snout and
being rooted, and you viii have case
much like that of the bit and the can
non. In fact, the boring tool is called a
''hog-nosed' bit, and it roots up that
cannon as if it enjoyed the operation.
No long, graceful curls come from this
boring, but small, crisp shavings that
are removed as fast as they accumulate
| in order that the boring tools work
shall not be interfered with. The bit IS
! going into the steel at the rate Of three
| eighths of an inch for every turn of the
cannon, and it is making round hole
! almost large enough for boy to put his
! head in-five and three-quarters inches
! in diameter As the round hole grows
deeper, the heavy bar, on which the bit
! is fastened, advances into the cannon
steadily, moved by number Of wheels
and screws that form part Of the lathe.
must not lose sight of the shavings,
! the little ones that come from the inside
and the long, spirally-twisted ones that
are turned from the outside OF the can
non. A military-looking man, standing
near the lathe, does not lose sight OF
these shavings or trimmings either.
| This mans business is TO carefully in
spcct the borings and trimmings. That
is what ne is paid to do. Uncle Sam
pays him and expects him to earn his
salary. The cannon is being made for
Uncle Sam and he intends to find out ali
its qualities, whether good or bad. Sc
the man eyes the borings carefully
Now, if with a plane or your nife-blade
you VIII cut thin shaving from q bit OF
wood, il viii show any little flaw exist
ing in the wood from which it was sliced
The tiniest knot-hole or crack will show
in the shaving much more plainly than
in the wood itself SO il is with a csn.
mons shaving. 1t is a dreadful tell-talc
and the fault-tndlng man beside the guI
knows this perfectly well. He examine.
the spiral turning or the little piece o
boring and finds no evidence of a flaw
or crack. The long spiral strip is a.
smooth as glass and as glossy as YOU
| sisters curls.
Into the solid steel the hog-nosed Bi-
roots its way until il is in so far that
little electric light must bear it company
70 show the workmen how matters ar,
| progressing in the heart of the cannon
After eighteen days of steady boring the
bit lets daylight into the bore of the
cannon by emerging at the other (ol
larger) end, seventeen feet away.-St
Nicholas.