Last week the New Ulm Battery brought in one of its cannons to be refurbished.

New Ulm Battery president Bruce Olson said the 8-pound rifled barrel cannon being worked on is the gun typically on display in the former sally port next to New Ulm City Hall.

Recently the cannon was removed from the sally port and used during the Capt. Willibald Bianchi funeral tribute.

Olson said while using the cannon, battery members realized the cannon was showing some corrosion

The 1862 cannon belonging to the New Ulm Battery is currently at Mike’s Painting & Sandblasting shop for restoration work. Battery members recently noticed signs of deterioration on the barrel and decided to have restoration work done to keep the cannon preserved. Photo by Clay Schuldt

“We thought it was a good idea to fix it up to prevent further deterioration,” Olson said. “We have touched up the cannons with paint before, but the corrosion was coming under that paint.”

The battery voted to send the cannon to the professionals for cleanup and a repaint.

Olson said they specially requested the cannon be glass blasted instead of sand blasted. Glass blasting uses small glass beads to remove paint or imperfections from a surface.

“The glass beads are a not as harsh as sand,” Olson said. “We don’t want to take any of the original details and printing off the barrel. We just want to get rid of the corrosion.”

Keaton Knaak, business sales manager for Mike’s Painting & Sandblasting, said the project should not take long to complete. The greatest challenge with this project is the weight and awkward shape of the cannon. The barrel alone is 800 pounds.

“It’s a little difficult for that reason,” Knaak said.

The plan is to place straps along the barrel and lift off its carriage by forklift. Once suspended by forklift the barrel can be glass blasted and repainted.

Knaak said typically Mike’s Painting & Sandblasting usually works on trailers, semis and anything else that can rust, but an antique artillery piece is certainly one of the more memorable projects. The team at Mike’s Paint & Sandblasting recently restored a 30-foot fiberglass mermaid statue from Mounds View. In 2015, they were commissioned to repaint the Jolly Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth.

Knaak said the work on the Jolly Green Giant and the Mound View Mermaid has gained Mike’s Pain a lot of statewide attention, but they are excited to being working on a New Ulm project that is deeply tied to New Ulm’s history.

Olson said Mike’s Painting & Sandblasting gave the New Ulm Battery a special deal, agreeing to donate two hours of work on the project.