Local News

Bringing out the big guns

Making, restoring cannons puts Altoona shop on the map

If Ralph Waldo Emerson penned the line about "the shot heard around the world" to describe the first shots fired by patriots against British soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, then Dave Seedenburg's Altoona business on Sixth Avenue may be the artillery restoration and reproduction shop heard around the world.

"I get calls from overseas," Seedenburg said. "My first cannon, I built in my basement in 2011."

He can restore war-torn cannons to functional operation.

"People just kept ordering stuff. I was a carpenter and do restoration work for fun, and it turned into a full-time machine shop," he said.

For the past two years, Seed Artillery Reproduction and Restoration has been operating at 6030 Sixth Ave. It's a full machine shop, including 20,000-pound metal lathes, a CNC shop and a full blacksmithing shop.

But it started in Seedenburg's basement.

Last week, he shipped out several Armstrong Pattern Cannon for a replica of the Providence -- the ship commanded by the United States' first well-known naval commander: John Paul Jones. It was one of very first vessels for the Continental Navy in the Revolutionary War and captured 40 ships as well as landing the first Marines on foreign soil.

The restoration of the replica ship, damaged by a storm in 2015, is led by Seaport Vessels Inc. owner Leon Poindexter of Massachusetts, who contracted Seedenburg.

The ship is under repair in Maine. It is being restored to its 18th century appearance and slated to be open for public tours, themed cruises and short private tours by May, said a representative of the Tall Ship Providence Foundation contacted by the Mirror.

"I found (Seedenburg) through the internet," Poindexter said. "I was looking up gun manufacturers to look at cannons for the ship. There are only a few manufacturers who will make replica guns, and he's unique because he turns them on a lathe, whereas as most guns are cast from molds," he said.

Poindexter took research about the Armstrong Pattern Cannon and did a full-scale drawing to send to Seedenburg. From there, Seedenburg entered the plans on a computer, and manufactured four steel 4-pounder Armstrong cannons weighing 500 pounds each, as well as two swivel guns for the railing of the ship, both weighing 200 pounds.

"What he does is absolutely awesome," Poindexter said.

Having been in the business of restoring antique small arms for more than 18 years, and having done cabinet making and antique furniture restoration for over five years, Seedenburg has acquired many of the unique skill sets that allow him to restore original antique artillery, but he's not formally trained.

Many collectors have trusted Seedenburg over the years with priceless irreplaceable antiques that needed fine engraving, silver inlay, wood repair and complete part replacements.

The replacement of missing parts requires skills in forging, casting, heat treating and patina matching.

He has five men who work with him.

"It's been three years now being full-time into it," Seedenburg said. "And we are year or two years behind on work."

A production studio from Canada contacted him about supplying replicas for a historical drama.

"We were too busy to follow through with it," he said.

The National Park Service contracts him for a lot of work on cannons from the Revolutionary War through World War I.

One of his most recent projects was to restore a British World War I cannon.

"It weighs over 15,000 pounds. In battle, it was rebuilt three times and shot 375,000 pounds of ordnances during the war," he said.

After a year of work, it is set to return to a municipal park in Medina, N.Y., where it will be the center of a World War I memorial. The project is headed by Chris Busch, president of the board of directors for the Medina nonprofit Orleans Renaissance Group, a cultural, arts and preservation group.

"Given the deterioration of the gun, we were in a quandary," Busch said. "We had no idea who to look to for repairs. I just searched around the internet and immediately came to his website. I thought, 'This is the guy.'"

The cannon is a British BL 60-pounder, manufactured in 1917. It served on the Western front of World War I. It fired thousands of rounds. But lost its functionality over decades of sitting outside.

During the course of a conversation, Seedenburg asked Busch: "Would you like it to be functional?"

It was tempting, but he said, "No, just so that it looks functional," Busch said.

The cost was in the neighborhood of $40,000.

Seedenburg dismantled the gun completely, stripped down years of paint that had been added to it and manufactured parts. It is totally rebuilt.

"It's like new," Busch said. "I'm just in awe of what he's been able to do to it. He is truly an extraordinarily talented man."

He's one of a kind.

In addition to restoring cannons, he builds replicas as well as cannon carriages for town parks and re-enactors and private customers with artillery collections.

"There's lots of research involved," Seedenburg said. "We reproduced a very rare Civil War Confederate 12-pounder, field Howitzer," he said. "There are only a handful of actual surviving cannons in that style, but Boalsburg Military Museum has an original, and we blueprinted it."

Now, he is waiting to see if he will be given a contract to create a replica of an historic wagon for the state of Arkansas. It is an 1858 six-mule army wagon for the park service in Arkansas.

Since high school, he has worked at restoring antique furniture, and as a carpenter and machinist. It's all grown into his cannon business.

"I like machinery, engineering, building things and it all comes together with doing this. And I love history," he said.

One of Seedenburg's customers, Charlie Smithgall, mayor of Lancaster from 1998 to 2006, who is said to have the largest private collection of Civil War artillery in the United States. His collection in a 17,000-square-foot museum comprises about 100 cannons. Every gun in the collection has a story.

Seedenburg originally called Smithgall about three years ago because he wanted to make a Confederate Parrot rifle. Smithgall had one and welcomed him to see it. Since then, Smithgall has sent three or four of his cannons for work by Seedenburg.

"I don't think he's been formally trained as machinist, but he's doing stuff a trained machinist will say, 'You can't do that,'" Smithgall said. "He's very creative and does precise work. I don't know how he's pulling it off, but he's doing excellent work."

Mirror Staff Writer Russ O'Reilly is at 946-7435.