Is this an elevation screw?

[Spuddy]

I have this item that looks alot like a cannon elevation screw.  My questions are, is it an elevation screw and if so what cannon might it have been used on?  Thanks for the help.

[Max Caliber]

Looks more like a device to adjust tension on some sort of machine, like a sawmill drive belt.

[Artilleryman]

If it was (big if) I think it would have to have been on a split trail type of carriage.

[dominick]

Some of the 1880's era metal field carriages have a similar elevation device.

[cannonmn]

Please give dimensions then I'll compare it to a similar-looking item we have here.  A lot of folks who put up photos of objects to ID on other forums tend to omit the dimensions.

[seacoastartillery]

     Spuddy, the answer is YES, it most certainly is an elevation screw.  I have proof and if I can find a particular photo Mike and I took in a small town in upstate New York, you and everyone else will see why I am so sure of this.  BTW, Artilleryman is spot on!

     I'm searching............Found it!  In 2007 Mike and I made a grand tour which included lots of New York State, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Mass. and Rhode Island.  We found the field artillery piece below in Cobleskill, NY on the village green.  Sporting this unusual elevation gear, you can see that it was specifically designed for a split trail carriage which indicates 1700s or early 1800s.  The cannon on the green or village square is unmarked and about the only thing we know for sure is it's caliber.  It's 3.6" with heavy black paint covering everything.  A 6 Pdr.  Probably early 1800 vintage, but that's only a feeling.  A little crude, maybe an independent foundry (small), but the paint and unknown conditions of storage make that only guesswork.  Maybe Cannonmn knows more about this one?  An article in the Artilleryman magazine indicated this piece is of an unknown maker and the casting date cannot be fixed.

Tracy
 
 
 Some pics we took in 2007.
 
 
 
 
 Spuddy, does this look familiar?
 
 
 
 
 My hand span dimension is 8", so this should give you a general idea of elevation gear width and breech diameter.  Mike and I were walking through Cobleskill looking for a lunch spot when we saw this gun and all our measurement tools were far away in the car.
 
 
 
 
 A 6 pdr. it is.  Even with no measuring instruments, we know.  The distance from my knuckle to the finger tip on the index finger of my right hand is 3.6-3.7" long.  6 Pdr. bore diameter!
 
 
 
 
 Astragal and fillets and tulip muzzle flair.
 
 
 
 
 Enlarged vent and rough texture can be seen.  Matt Switlik would probably know if these carriage irons are authentic.
 
 
 
 
 Sorry about this, but I'm on a nostalgia tour now.  This was Lark Street Elementary School where I gazed out the classroom window for hours as the teacher droned on and on in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade.  I looked out that upper, far right window and watched the maple seed twirlers float to the ground.  My bean in a water and cotton filled test tube sprouted very nicely.
 
 
 
 
 They were converting my old school to the town Library when we were there.  I used to walk up that stairway past Yogy Bear every day back in '55 to get to my third grade classroom.  I literally flew down that same stairway every day to go recess!
 
 
 
 

[DaveSB]

wow, good eye!

[keith44]

I see some subtle differences which make me wonder if that device was a generic design with many applications.  Such as (obviously) elevation screw, but also shive adjuster, auger elevation, or side adjuster, leaf spring compresser (parts missing) for buggys, or wagons.  Many possibilities with a simple screw like that.
 
 

[KABAR2]

If you look at the photo you can see where it is indented to recieve the coller like the one on the cannon that attaches it to the cannon from the looks of it I would say you have yourself an elevation screw.... NOW where is the rest of it?    And how can I talk you out of it?

[DaveSB]

NOW where is the rest of it?    And how can I talk you out of it?

+1

[RocklockI]

Thats a nice find Tim   . Can you go back and look around for more ?
 
Gary

[Zulu]

Spuddy,
How did you come by it?
Zulu

[Double D]

Yogi Bear did not debut until 1958, were you "held back" ?   

[seacoastartillery]

     Held back?  In my youth when I had boundless energy?  Nobody would dare to, Double D.  No that's not it, I know it was a cartoon character, just not real sure which one, that's all.  Could have been Mickey Mouse 1928, maybe Popeye the Sailor Man 1929, or Donald Duck from 1934.  Maybe Wile E. Coyote or The Road Runner 1949 or perhaps Captain Midnight (remember his sidekick, Mudd with two 'd's) from 1954.  You missed the first thing that caught my eye as I leaned in the entry way to take that picture.  Look at that crude, chain-link fence with the pipe and angle iron frame.  THAT is a direct result from having a lawyer behind every bush!  No school administrator would allow something that ugly to defile his school back in '55!

     Speaking of memory for a moment, I am absolutely sure of two things at this point in time.  One:  the United States Economy under the yoke of the  'Bama Administration's  spendthrift policies  will certainly improve as the months go by, AND Two:  my memory will also improve over the next 18 months as I get older and older!

TK

[Double D]

     ND Two:  my memory will also improve over the next 18 months as I get older and older!

TK

Can't find the cynical maniacal laugh smily   

[Spuddy]

Thanks for all of the comments and M&T for the id of this piece.  I posted a picture here yesterday in a hurry as I had to leave for an overnight trip.  sorry for not including the dimensions.  The total height is 18 1/4", the distance across the handles is about 7 1/4". The distance across the "yolk" is approximately 10 inches with out the round pieces with the round pieces it is 12".  The screw diameter is approximatley 1 7/8" and the diameter of the seat is 2 1/2".  Gary I got this from an older lady who has a small second hand/antique store in Houlton Maine.  I asked her as I do all propriator's of such establishments, if she had any cannons.  She said no but she did have some parts.  One of the "parts" was a homemade brass barrel that looks like someone was going for a swivel gun.  The barrel was only bored down to where the trunnions would be and no vent.  Where the trunnions would be is another hole bore completely through. The barrel weighs approximately 30 pounds.  I passed on the barrel and she said that she had an Elay screw that went to a cannon.  It is the item that I posted a picture of.  She called it an Elay screw because someone had written a note with the words elev. screw on it and the handwriting was not very good, she saw it as Elay screw.  Again sorry for the delay in getting back to this and again thanks for the help.  My wife thinks I am crazy.  She is very understanding of the whole cannon thing, but is having a hard time figuring out why on earth I would want only part of a cannon.  I told her that I don't want just part of a cannon, I wanted the whole thing but that was the only piece that was available.  She still wants to know what I am going to do with it.  I don't think I am going to be able to keep it next to my recliner much longer.
Regards,
Tim
 

[cannonmn]

Thanks for the dimensions.  Yes as SC has said, it is definitely an elevation screw, but just to be absolutely certain, send it to me for a close and very thorough examination.  I promise I will send it back just as soon as I get completely done with my very thorough examination and report.
 
Here's another version of the US flask-trail elevation screw and yoke.  This one came on a partial carriage which was attached to a 6-pounder wrought-iron and steel Treadwell field gun tube, one of eight (or maybe 9) made in 1843.  As far as I know mine is the only survivor.  Tube is unmarked (at least now no marks are visible.)  The carriage has some very faint marks and I'm not sure whether they are for Watertown or Watervliet Arsenal, but I think the date may be 1830's to early 40's.  The carriage probably had nothing to do with the tube other than it was for a 6-pounder gun.  I think the tube and carrige were mated by Bannerman's which I think sold them to one of the former owners, who displayed it outside as you can probably tell.
 
Measurements: 
Yoke width 12 in.
Yoke trunnion diameter 1.25 in.
Screw height 15.5 in.
Screw diameter 2 in.
Handle width 10 in.
 
Photos:  Use password "attack"
 
http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/cannonmn/miscforumsetc/Forums59/Elevation%20screw%20Treadwell/?albumview=slideshow