Bird Cannon [Restoration]

Video Description

This restoration is on a "ZON" bird cannon made by the B.M. Lawrence & Co. of San Francisco, CA, USA in the 1950s. This tool is also called an automatic scarecrow, carbide cannon, bird scarer, or orchard cannon and cost $60 USD in 1955 which is about $750 USD today. You can view the original patent here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US3056376 The cannon works by the user mixing calcium carbide and water to create acetylene gas. Once the gas builds up to a certain amount, it is emptied into the explosion chamber and a flint is struck, igniting the gas and creating an extremely loud sound in hopes of scaring away birds and apparently human ears. This is the most dangerous tool I have restored thus far. The risk of creating shrapnel was present and real during every restoration decision. The main rubber diaphragm was completely rotten and needed replacing, but if I did not find rubber with equivalent thickness, strength, elasticity, and resistance to acetylene, I could accidentally create a massive problem for my limbs. If the restored firing mechanism jams, it may allow for multiple doses of acetylene to enter the chamber, and remove my face. If I accidentally let water enter down the pressure equalization tube in the calcium carbide chamber while moving it around, it could go off while I am holding it, making me deaf for life. Modern equivalents are made today, but use propane instead. I'd like to thank @CRCAutoUS for sponsoring this video. I've switched to a food-grade penetrating oil from them as a more safe alternative, and it as worked just as well as the usual penetrating oils I've used. You can check out the products from them used in this video in the links below: https://www.evapo-rust.com https://www.crcindustries.com/evapo-rust/ https://www.crcindustries.com/smartwasher/ https://www.crcindustries.com/food-grade-penetrating-oil-11-wt-oz/ Wrenches, screwdrivers, and socket drivers are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com Watch narrated videos and help secure more tools for future videos (if you want): https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue Facebook Group - Share your restorations https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue https://www.facebook.com/handtoolrescue/ Reddit - Share your restorations https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/ Podcast (with @jimmydiresta and Andrew Alexander) - https://anchor.fm/fitzall