Also known as: Rodman process.
| Inventor | Thomas J. Rodman |
|---|---|
| Method | Casting hollow around a water-cooled core |
| Effect | Bore surface set in compression; far stronger large guns |
Casting from the inside out
In the older method a gun was cast solid and then bored out, so the metal cooled from the outside in and left internal stresses that limited how large an iron gun could safely be made. Thomas Rodman's process reversed this: the gun was cast hollow around a water-cooled core, so the iron solidified from the inside outward.
The result left the surface of the bore in compression and greatly reduced the internal strains, allowing iron guns of unprecedented size and strength, the great Rodman columbiads up to twenty inches in bore.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: manuals, reports, and manufacturing references.