I've always been interested in medieval warfare, and have always wanted to build my own hand cannon.
I have no experience in this area, but I'd like to know if it can be done.
I don't know but I basically only require:
Strong metal tubing
Something to hold the actual cannon to a wooden pole
Black powder(I'll look for the recipe)
a drill
right?


What do I need to do to make it so it won't blow up in my face?
It's basically just a sealed off tube with a hole towards the bottom that you place a flame to ignite the black powder that would be poured in right?
Do I need to know anything else?
I'll experiment on barrel designs to see what works best.
I would be firing arrows and small metal projectiles that I'd customize.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/st000pid1/800px-HandBombardWesternEurope1390-.jpg

What would be the best material to make the tube out of?

Steel?
Bronze?
Iron?

something hard like steel

and i suggest putting the barrel in another, larger tube, also open on one end. that way, in the event of it blowing up, more of the force would be forced out one end (which you will always have pointed in a safe direction)

do some calculations with the black powder reaction and find the maximum amount of gas produced. use the ideal gas formula to work out the estimate for the highest amount of pressure possible (that is, assume all the powder burns in an instant and the volume is the chamber size). of course not all the powder burns in an instant and the volume gets larger with time, so you will have some leeway.

from there, you can estimate whether your cannon can resist such pressure

edit: also try making smoothbores first before going to a rifled barrel.

Thanks for your advice
I'm still very uneducated on the subject, so expect a new thread by next year with video of my handcannon.
I've been researching non stop all day and I've found that I am in no way near prepared enough to make this soon, and I still have a lot to learn without an accident happening.
I don't think I'll be making a rifled one, as I wouldn't be able to afford the machinery needed.

I'd go with a PVC inside another PVC.

A good metal tube would be way to expensive, plus drilling through metal is a bitch.

not to mention its difficult to drill an any curve. though aluminium is still pretty easy to drill though

however, i think for black powder, a stronger material is needed.


OP, if possible, see if you can get the guy at your hardware store/metal merchant to drill where you want

It all depends on what you want the cannon to do. PVC pipe will suffice if you only use a small amount of powder. PVC is used in combustion cannons which are similar to the thing you are designing.

Using steel I suggest you buy a pipe. Casting is difficult, but achievable by most people.

Cast iron is too brittle to use to build a cannon.

Bronze is possible, but it is expensive.

Buy some threaded black gas pipe from a hardware store. They sell it for making pipe clamps. Buy a steel cap from the plumbing section to close the end. Drill the touch hole through the side of the cap where it overlaps with the pipe. This will keep it as strong as possible.

I haven't done any of this myself, so don't blame me if you die. You could easily buy a cheap muzzleloader instead and modify it to look the way you want.

I'm not old enough to buy weapons yet, but I'm going to attach the actual cannon to a wooden support that's at least 6 feet long, more likely longer just to be safe.
I like your idea of the gas pipe and cap, that'll work.
I'll also put a few more tubes around it just to be safe, it'll be a bitch to drill but it's doable.
The pole will be made to detach in three places and I'll use the strongest material I can find to clamp it together.
think this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/st000pid1/200px-Lgehumble_1400.jpg

Or actually, PVC inside another PVC iinside a metal tube.
I hope I can find the right sizes.
I want this thing to be powerful, able to shoot at least the very least a few hundred feet.