# Pirate window cannons



## deepcdiver

Very cool. thanks for sharing this. Looks like a another project for this year.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Very Nice Tutorial-just a warning..*

Some vandalistic types think it's a right and proper "joke" to place firecrackers in the barrels of faux-cannons.
A local man welded together a very real looking larger than life Smith-Wesson 357 Magnum pistol/mailbox. About a week after the newspaper showed the world a photo of it someone dynamited it into tiny little pieces.
He was fortunate the lane to the house was long or else fragments might have got someone.
I weld walls about 1-1/2 inches inside the open barrels of my couple of faux-weapons to discourage the vandal mind.


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## Terra

HA HA HA! I'd love to do this to the house. Looks great!


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## Terra

Oh, and hubby says he's jealous. 

He prefers mini-guns though


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## Ghost of Spookie

Your house looks so great. I love how you implemented this. I've saved your directions to my Halloween file since I'm not doing a pirate theme this year, but I will be at some time in the future. Pirates are among my favorite themes. arrrr.

This idea would also work for those who turn their house into a medieval castle.


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## abner135

Good job wisk i had that many windows


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## Wolfbeard

I've enjoyed your haunt photos before. The tutorial is very useful! Thanks.

Eric


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## Calloween

cool. might have to use it.


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## HeadlessAxeman

Very cool tutorial!


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## MassMax

Thanks everybody!



Terra said:


> Oh, and hubby says he's jealous.
> 
> He prefers mini-guns though


 That's a riot, Terra! I'm sure your average pirate would love to have miniguns instead of cannons, too.

A quick "lessons learned" follow-up on the tutorial...

In hindsight, I wish I cut the sonotube into 1' lengths instead of 2' lengths, so that the cannons did not project out so much. The resulting cannons would look more realistic and also be slightly easier to store.

Also, the most expensive piece of the window cannons is the metal duct reducer, which runs between $7-10 each. I sacrificed money in place of time and realism when I made my cannons.

To reduce cost, and also create a more realistic cannon muzzle that can stand up to close scrutiny, you can use rigid foam for the muzzle flare. Another user on this forum, daffy64, wrote a superb tutorial on making very realistic looking cannons - see
https://www.halloweenforum.com/threads/how-to-make-a-realistic-cannon-part-1.79204/ for instructions on making a flared muzzle. I plan to follow his tutorial this spring to make a free-standing cannon for my haunt.

Hope all this helps - happy haunting, mateys!


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## Captain Slackbeard

*Avast!!!*

I be wonderin if ye be willin ta give out yer address fer a quick visit this Halloween season. No needin fer me to board n' converse, less it be at yer request. I only be wishin ta spectate. Contact me...I be new and not beknowst how to work this site, but i be figurin out swiftly.


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## talonrazor

MassMax said:


> With a few hours effort, you can turn the front of your house into the side of a pirate ship, complete with flashing cannons, as shown below:
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> This project works best if you have single-hung or double-hung windows, but with a little creativity, I'm sure you can adapt it for other window types. Once the cannon is mounted in the window frame, you should be able to close the window to keep the hot/cold air (depending on your location) inside the house.
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> For each window cannon, you will need the following materials. All the materials are readily available from hardware stores such as Home Depot or Lowes.
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> Sheet of 1/4" plywood (I used luan)
> One 4' long x 8" diameter cardboard tube (sonotube) used for concrete forms, cut in half (two 2' lengths) or quarters (four 1' lengths)
> One 10" to 8" metal duct reducer
> Scrap wood to form a brace (I used 1" square trim stock)
> Sheet of craft foam board
> Five to seven small pan head screws (no precise size, whatever you have on hand)
> Clear polyurethane sealer
> Flat black paint (for plywood panel)
> Gloss black paint (for cannon barrel)
> String of inexpensive, flashing clear or red Xmas lights (to make the cannons "fire")
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> *Tools required:*
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> Flat head or Phillips head screwdriver (depending on the screws you use)
> Utility knife
> Circular saw
> Drill with 2" hole saw attachment
> All-purpose glue
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> *Instructions
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> 1) Measure the inside dimensions of the window you plan to use.*
> On a single- or double-hung window, slide up the inside sash and if the window is equipped with a screen, raise that as well. You want the resulting plywood panel to rest within the window frame, and catch on the window jambs on either side as well as the bottom of the screen (see the photo above), so measure accordingly.
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> *2) Using a circular saw, cut the plywood panel to these dimensions.*
> Note that luan has a nasty habit of splintering, so the greater the number of cutting teeth in the blade, the better.
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> *3) Paint one side of the panel using flat black paint and set it aside to dry.
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> 4) Cut the 4' long cardboard tube into a 1' (recommended) or 2' length.*
> I simply cut the tube in half to create two cannon barrels, each 2' long. In hindsight, I recommend cutting the tubes into 1' lengths instead of the 2' length I used. That saves on material cost and the cannon project more realistically from the window.
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> *5) Squirt some glue around the outside of the 8" ring of the duct reducer, and insert the reducer into one end of the cardboard tube.*
> Some force may be required. You'll discover the supposed 8" diameter tubes vary wildly in actual size. You will likely need to cut a 1.5" slit in the end of the tube to allow the duct reducer to slide inside. As an alternative, you can skip the glue and slide the duct reducer over the tube instead of inside it. Either way, use one or two screws to secure the reducer to the tube.
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> *6) Coat the newly formed barrel (reducer and tube) with clear polyurethane and set it aside to dry.
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> 7) Create a simple wooden brace that the barrel can slide over and hang from.*
> Using 1" trim stock, for my 2' long barrels, I cut one 14" length of trim with square ends, and another 7" length with 45 degree mitered ends. The long piece is the arm and the mitered piece is the support. Predrill holes into both pieces and use a screw to attach the support to the arm, so that other end of the support is flush with the end of the arm (see the diagram above).
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> *8) Trace the outline of the small (8" end) of the barrel on the painted side of the plywood panel.*
> You want the barrel centered, side-to-side and top-to-bottom, within the exposed portion of the panel when it sits in the window frame. Rather than actually tracing the barrel, you can simply mark a point centered side-to-side on the panel and at the top of where you want the barrel. If you are making several cannons, measure the dimensions of this point and write them down, so that all your cannons are level across windows on the same floor of your house.
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> *9) Paint the barrel with gloss black paint and set aside to dry.
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> 10) Predrill holes through the plywood panel and into the arm and support portion of the wooden brace.
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> 11) Use two screws to secure the wooden brace to the painted side of the plywood panel (see the diagram above).
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> 12) Using a 2" hole saw, cut a hole through the plywood panel, near where the support is attached to the panel and slightly off to one side.*
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> *13) Take the now-dry barrel and trace a circle around the 10" muzzle onto a foam board sheet.
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> 14) Draw a 6" diameter circle centered within the first circle, to create a 2" thick ring.
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> 15) Using the utility knife, cut the ring out of the foam board.
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> 16) Slide the barrel over the wooden brace until it's flush with plywood panel and secure it to the brace with two screws (see the exploded view diagram above).
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> 17) Insert the foam board ring into the muzzle.*
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> *18) Paint the foam board ring with the gloss black paint.
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> 19) Once the paint is dry, drop a string of Xmas into the barrel and pull the plug end through the 2" hole in the plywood.*
> Optionally, you can dress up your cannon with bands around the barrel (using black weatherstripping foam) and add faces to the plywood panels like I did (using pirate face cutouts from a party store).
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> *20) Mount the completed cannon inside a window.*
> I found the plywood panels sat within my window frames without any bracing required. But you should be able to close the inner sash of a singe- or double-hung window to maintain the heating/cooling in your house and prevent the panels from kicking back.
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> *21) Plug the light string into an AC outlet and you're good to go!*


For some reason I can't see the photos from this post if there are any.


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## 66539

talonrazor said:


> For some reason I can't see the photos from this post if there are any.


Many photos were lost when the change over to the new site was made. Mind you, not the most recent change over, but one prior to that. Photobucket also causes some grief as people used to use them back when they were free, but when they decided to start charging for their service, the links to those photos disappeared as well.

Sometimes if you put the name of the project into Google, you can find links to the images that someone saved to Pinterest or another source. Typing in Halloween Forum Pirate Window Cannons, gave this picture as one of the results. I kind of think that's what the tutorial was going for.


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## anonymousbrunette

Those look amazing! Thanks for the photo. I too have been running into dead links and missing photos from posts past.


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## Frankie's Girl

talonrazor said:


> For some reason I can't see the photos from this post if there are any.





chubstuff said:


> Many photos were lost when the change over to the new site was made. Mind you, not the most recent change over, but one prior to that. Photobucket also causes some grief as people used to use them back when they were free, but when they decided to start charging for their service, the links to those photos disappeared as well.
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> Sometimes if you put the name of the project into Google, you can find links to the images that someone saved to Pinterest or another source. Typing in Halloween Forum Pirate Window Cannons, gave this picture as one of the results. I kind of think that's what the tutorial was going for.
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> View attachment 716553




Many thanks to Chubstuff for helping out on this one!

Any time there's a tutorial that has broken links, there is a possibility that a moderator may be able to get in there and repair them. As this got bumped up, I was able to check it, found the original album here on Halloween Forum and repair or replace the photo links so the OP's post is back!


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## 66539

Frankie's Girl said:


> Any time there's a tutorial that has broken links, there is a possibility that a moderator may be able to get in there and repair them.


Wow... If I didn't already know that you're a miracle of scientific engineering what with your profile picture and all, I would say you're magic.  Thanks for helping restore the site to its original luster. It still is hands down the best Halloween site there is.


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## Frankie's Girl

chubstuff said:


> Wow... If I didn't already know that you're a miracle of scientific engineering what with your profile picture and all, I would say you're magic.  Thanks for helping restore the site to its original luster. It still is hands down the best Halloween site there is.



Awww. thanks. Thank YOU for all you do around here as a contributor and member. It's folks like you that make Halloween Forum great.

Love this place, love all the wonderful people through the years that have made it such an amazing resource. I'm just happy I can help at all to keep it magical.


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## 66539

Frankie's Girl said:


> Awww. thanks. Thank YOU for all you do around here as a contributor and member. It's folks like you that make Halloween Forum great.
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> Love this place, love all the wonderful people through the years that have made it such an amazing resource. I'm just happy I can help at all to keep it magical.


So.... any chance you can work your magic to find out where the link listed above for realistic cannons disappeared to?  old link that is permanently broken so removing the reference in this quote takes us to a 404 page not found error message. 

 try this link now:https://www.halloweenforum.com/threads/how-to-make-a-realistic-cannon-part-1.79204/

Sigh... I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. A raven with LED lights on the shoulder of a cauldron creep. I watched lazer-beams glitter in the dark near a vortex tunnel. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...


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## Frankie's Girl

chubstuff said:


> So.... any chance you can work your magic to find out where the link listed above for realistic cannons disappeared to? old link that doesn't work any more takes us to a 404 page not found error message.
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> try this link now: https://www.halloweenforum.com/threads/how-to-make-a-realistic-cannon-part-1.79204/
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> Sigh... I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. A raven with LED lights on the shoulder of a cauldron creep. I watched lazer-beams glitter in the dark near a vortex tunnel. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...



Yup. Found it. Found it all. Give me a few minutes to put the images back in. This one required me tracking down daffy64's actual website to locate, but fortunately it wasn't too difficult. I'll be fixing all 4 parts of the tutorial here within the hour.

For those that want to see the realistic cannon build on Mr. Holmes' site (daffy64) see this link:








How to Build a Realistic Cannon - I'll be in the garage


Hi guys. This is PART 1 of how to make a cannon that looks like this… PART 1 For this project, you’ll need a cardboard tube. The kind they sell at Rona or Home Depot for pouring concrete into. The size you buy is up to you. I think they range from 6″ up to […]



illbeinthegarage.com


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## 66539

Frankie's Girl said:


> Yup. Found it. Found it all.
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> How to Build a Realistic Cannon - I'll be in the garage
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> Hi guys. This is PART 1 of how to make a cannon that looks like this… PART 1 For this project, you’ll need a cardboard tube. The kind they sell at Rona or Home Depot for pouring concrete into. The size you buy is up to you. I think they range from 6″ up to […]
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> illbeinthegarage.com


You are amazing.  Thank you. I have saved the pages to a PDF file so that should a day come when we build a cannon, we will have the information necessary to create one. The nice thing about it is there is so much he references in constructing the cannon that lends itself to the mausoleums we're creating this summer. That's the fun of Halloween Forum, so much information to be used in so many different ways. 

Thanks again for all your help to this site.


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## Screaming Demons

Frankie's Girl said:


> Yup. Found it. Found it all. Give me a few minutes to put the images back in. This one required me tracking down daffy64's actual website to locate, but fortunately it wasn't too difficult. I'll be fixing all 4 parts of the tutorial here within the hour.
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> For those that want to see the realistic cannon build on Mr. Holmes' site (daffy64) see this link:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> How to Build a Realistic Cannon - I'll be in the garage
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> Hi guys. This is PART 1 of how to make a cannon that looks like this… PART 1 For this project, you’ll need a cardboard tube. The kind they sell at Rona or Home Depot for pouring concrete into. The size you buy is up to you. I think they range from 6″ up to […]
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> illbeinthegarage.com


Looks like you, Terra and some others have been busy fixing things. Thanks for doing that. I love to refer people here from Facebook. They don't know what they're missing.


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