A Ship Cannon. A piece of wood (about ¼ inch thick, the side of a wooden chocolate-box or any other light box will do) is first sawn out 5½ inches by 2 inches (A in Fig. 338). Another piece of wood, B, 4½ inches by 2 inches, is cut and glued on the first piece. Three pieces of stripwood ¼ inch by ½ inch, C, D, E, are cut to lengths 3½ inches, 2¾ inches, 2 inches respectively. These are glued on one side as in the figure, and similar strips are cut and glued to the other side. Two pieces of stripwood, F, ½" × ½" × 1½", have holes drilled half way through them, to receive the pivots of the gun, but must not be glued on to E until the gun is in position.
The cannon is made of a roll of brown paper 6 inches long; one end should be narrower than the other (the widest end say 1 inch in diameter, the narrowest end ½ inch to ¾ inch).
Fig. 339
The roll must be securely fastened together by seccotine, two layers of brown paper make a strong cannon; black paper is then pasted over it and bands of brown paper as in Fig. 339. A hole is pierced through the cannon about half-way along it, and a round stick, K M, passed through; this pivot should be just long enough to fit into blocks F when these are fixed and glued in position.
Before this is done, the wheels should be made and fastened on. This is an easy matter. Two lengths of stripwood (¼ inch by ½ inch) are cut 2¼ inches long. The little wheels (¾ inch in diameter) are cut from any round rod available, or if no rod can be obtained they may be cut out of cardboard. Holes are drilled in the wheels and nails with large heads passed through and driven into the stripwood. The axles are either glued or nailed to the bottom of A. Finally the pivot, K M, is fitted into its blocks, and these are glued into position. A wedge can be made to slip in under the cannon to raise and lower it. The wedge should be just wide enough to slip in between the two layers of stripwood.
Fig. 340
Fig. 341