> "Instead, many early iron cannon were build up using hoop-and-stave construction..."

Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mons_Meg#Construction

(I learned about Mons Meg from the Corries' interpretation of Bonny Dundee, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24617941 , a tune which deserves an electro or metal cover, but doesn't yet seem to have any.)

    Stop, hammer time!

    Go with the flux. It is said
    If you can't weld with it
    Then you probably are dead.