I used to have a cannon-shaped one - I think it's still somewhere in the loft. The blade was in the carriage, and the barrel had a spring inside so you could put a matchstick or pellet in and fire it by pulling back the cascabel and letting go.
On some of the vintage ones, the blade can be unscrewed and replaced. I've seen at least one seller on Etsy selling replacement blades with the correct shape.
Hey, that's cool you used to have one, and hopefully, it is still there in the loft. What a cool mechanism that you could even fire the matchstick!
I prefer these kinds of sharpeners just as decoration items. However, it is good that there are pieces and replacement blades that can be bought on sites such as Etsy. 👌