The New Ulm Battery’s 1862 three-inch gun was brought into Mike’s painting to be refurbished and after a week, the 164-year-old artillery piece looks as good as new.

New Ulm Battery president Bruce Olson said the 3-inch gun rifled barrel cannon is the one typically on display in the former sally port next to New Ulm City Hall.

In May, 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.

“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 New Ulm Battery’s 3-inch, rifled barrel cannon following the glass blast and repaint performed by Mike’s Painting and Sandblasting. The refurbishing project helped removed the corrosion and chipped paint from the century-and-a-half old gun.

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

The battery specially requested the gun 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 though it was an unusual project, it was a relatively simple. The greatest challenge was lifting the 800 pound gun. Forklifts and straps were used to lift the barrel off its carriage for the glass blasting and repaint.

Knaak said typically Mike’s Painting & Sandblasting usually works on trailers, semis and anything else that can rust, but the team has received some more unusual projects in recent years. 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.

It was decided to glass blast the 1862 cannon instead of the traditional sandblasting to help preserve some of the historic marking on the barrel.

Knaak said the work on the Jolly Green Giant and the Mound View Mermaid has gained Mike’s Paint a lot of statewide attention, but it was excited to work on a 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.

The barrel of the New Ulm Battery’s 1862 three-inch, rifled cannon looks as good as new following the refurbishing at at Mike’s Paint and Sandblasting. Photo by Clay Schudlt