Carbide cannon?

[Cannoneer]

OK, it's time for a little humor! I got this from an internet auction recently, and I'm not even sure why I bid on it (just a whim I guess). I contacted Victor3 who is my guru in these matters and he concurred with my opinion that it was a one of a kind carbide cannon. I now have it, and still think it's a carbide cannon, but I thought that the metal lever that's attached to the breech would open to a hole where the carbide could be dropped in the water and there's no hole, so I suppose everything is poured down the barrel. The 9'' barrel is in two parts, the chase being attached to the wider breech section by screws. I'm going to have to take it apart and check out what that lever is for. The solid oak carriage is a work of art in its own right. I hope cannonmn doesn't become to envious of this treasure, especially when compared with his recent purchase of that run-of-the-mill Jan Verbruggen mortar.

[dan610324]

should it maybe be filled with 1 or 2 cc water and the carbide dropped through the barrel and that "exhaust" pipe could be used for ignition ??
or ??

[Mike H.]

I considered bidding on that one but just could not figure it out enough from the photos to drop the cash on it.  Does the lever arm not just act as an elevator, by passing thru the barrel to the gear on the opposite side, which is turned by the smaller gear via the thumb wheel?  That is what I came up with looking at it on eBay.  Good luck with it.

I wonder how often we here are bidding against each other on eBay......

[Cannoneer]

Dan and Victor are right about the pipe coming out of the trunnion being the place to ignite the acetylene gas (I think). The tube is hollow all the way into the chamber, and there's no other access to the chamber except for the bore, so the water and calcium carbide has to be put into the chamber down the bore. The piece of steel attached to the breech must be for decoration, because there's no hole that goes through to the chamber. I'm going to order me a tube of "Bangsite" just to see what this monster can do.

Mike,
I'm sure that there have been occasions on eBay where one member has unknowingly made another member have to dig deeper into his wallet to win an item. 

The tube doesn't go through the barrel, it ends flush wth the inside of the chamber. The other trunnion that the elevation gear is attached to is solid steel, and it extends into the chamber about a quarter inch where it's held with a pin.

[jeeper1]

Bangsite sells for $9.50 here.
http://www.bigbangcannons.com/products.aspx?c=10
Maybe you can find it cheaper elsewhere.

[Cat Whisperer]

I use the miner's calcium carbide - local hardware stores still have it.

[dominick]

Is that a small block chevy flex plate for the elevation gear?

[Cannoneer]

Dom,
I know it's not a flex plate, but I have no idea what it originally came from. It's about a quarter inch thick, brass, and half the cicumference is marked from 0° to 180° (third photo). The gears weren't turning, so I lubed everything up (especially the rusted trunnion) and now they elevate the barrel smoothly.