A barrel of fun: Life's a blast for this Ontario cannon maker
Tony Walsh has lived in Lanark County’s Watson’s Corners since 1978; a lover of its geography and its people.
“Lanark County is sort of like a land-locked Cape Breton,” he smiles.
“Nice people. Nice area. To me, it’s heaven.”
After a 30-year military career in Canada’s Armed Forces, the former weapons technician and longtime, gifted blacksmith retired to this area.
Or so he thought.
Walsh, now 77, has never been one to put his feet up, or slow down. He’s too busy having a blast, exploring his explosive passion for history.
And cannons.
“As a blacksmith, I started doing metal work and making parts for someone who was selling cannons,” he says.
But when that person went out of business, Walsh got an idea.
“I had a whole bunch of cannon stuff that I had made up, and I thought I’m going to have to sell it. And to sell it, I ended making the entire cannon,” he chuckled.
“And that’s how it started.”
Before long, Walsh was taking orders from across North America. Civil War reenactors and museums wanted cannons.
So did Parks Canada, Signal HIll in Newfoundland, and the Halifax Citadel.
Walsh’s historically accurate cannons are shipped across North American to museums and reenactor groups. (Joel Haslam/CTV Ottawa)
For forty years, Walsh has been fashioning cannons to the highest specifications, using historic technical drawings and written descriptions from the era.
Gracing his property currently is a six pound breach loading rifle, modelled after a cannon designed by Britain’s Sir William Armstrong in the 1850’s.
“I really enjoy it because I try to duplicate Armstrong’s methods,” says Walsh.
“The man was a genius. The barrel was not one piece. One is shrunk on another, so the inside barrel is five ten thousands of an inch bigger than the hole it’s going in. I can make an Armstrong, from start to finish, in about two months,” he says.
“Just on its own, that’s $22 thousand.”
While most clients don’t launch projectiles from Walsh’s cannons (it’s more about the bang and smoke), his guns are capable of firing.
His confederate mountain rifle is used to fire at targets by reenactor groups in the US.
“It has to be accurate because they fire it live,” he says.
Tony Walsh uses a power hammer to flatten a bar of steel used in his cannon production. (Joel Haslam/CTV Ottawa)
Antique machinery is vital to production in Walsh’s shop. There’s a century old lathe and a massive power hammer, which saves the blacksmith time and energy when pounding steel.
At 77, Walsh does feel the wear and tear of the job. Building every component, including the large wooden wheels, can be physically taxing.
“Most of the wheels I work with are about five feet tall and weigh about two hundred and fifty pounds, so there’s no way you’re going to toss them around,” he says.
Despite the challenges of the job, seeing his guns work makes it all worthwhile.
“I’m having a ball,” he laughs.
So Tony Walsh’s adventure continues.
“Until I croak,” he smiles.
Seems there’s still lots of fire left in Lanark County’s cannon maker. His retirement will have to wait.
“I want to work to within three days of them shovelling sand in my face.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.