Happy New Year.......Carbide shooting in the Achterhoek......tradition.
In the Achterhoek it is the Dutch farmers tradition to shoot off calcium carbide cannons, usually from steel milk churns with a tight fitting lid, or a soccer or basketball stuffed in the end. A hole is drilled in the bottom and a piece of calcium carbide rock is put in the bottom along with some water. This produces a flammable gas (acetylene) that is ignited and shoots the lid, or the ball several hundred metres and makes a hell of a bang. Here's a little video, for all you 'do-it-yourselfers' https://youtu.be/iegD2Rfpev8 Titbits https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbide
