Reid Neilsen Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 (edited) This just makes a man cry right here:YouTube - Anvil Firing Just aint right...just aint right... Edited April 22, 2009 by steve sells phrase edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Anvils are not made for that activity. More than one has come apart and blown pieces of Iron through bystanders. Old timers would go for maybe 10 ft. Just enough to make a little noise. I tend to find other things to do unitil after the anvil has landed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 I'm sure that there are knuckle-heads that just decide to go out and try this. I would probably be one of them if I had a surplus of expendable anvils and if black powder was not getting so hard to find. However, the guys that do this "professionally" are not just throwing caution to the wind and randomly blasting good working anvils into the air. They (at least some of them) have specially selected anvils and they actually have them x-rayed at regular intervals to check for cracks and fractures. I've seen this done at hammer-ins, and it's not the wild, risky event you might think it would be... very controlled and safety conscious. And the anvils were hand picked shooting anvils. The old joke is that if you can catch the anvil before it hits the ground, you get to keep it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Yes, there are professional anvil shooters. And, Yes, I have been present at a number of shuch events. I have a picture of a 100 lb anvil buried to the step in Mississippi Leos dirt. Makes no difference. It is dangerous to a fault and every so often people get seriously injured. As I said, when it's going on I find some place else to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 i prefer cannons as noise makers...but to each theyre own.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Its a grand old tradition, anvil shooting was a used during celebrations in the Old West, the chance for disaster boggle my mind though, and how big a hole do you want to dig to get your anvil back?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andgott Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Yeah, And if you don't do it right-YouTube - Anvil launching gone wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Yep, 6 feet from certan death. He needs longer fuse:rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Falzone Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 If there was EVER an arguement for natural selection .... that there is IT!!! You know, I bet it's times like this that the universe just shakes its head and mutters to itself, "... man ... what was I thinking?!?" :confused: What gets me the most is that in the background of that video there are 4-5 other anvils ready to go !!! There is something seriously wrong in this world when we have new smiths who feel the call of the forge tugging at their gut but can't find an anvil to save their soul ... BECAUSE BOZOS LIKE THESE ARE BLOWING THEM UP !!! :mad: Like Reid said - that just aint right. sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 a tradtional anvil shoot uses 2 anvils one up side down with a hole in it for the powder to be in and they put aces from a deck of cards to cover the powder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keykeeper Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Aw come on people, lighten up a bit. What's wrong with a little friendly competition to see how far a person can defy gravity? I think for the most part, the anvils they use are older ones with issues that would make them not a perfect user anvil. Although, there are those that have to have the newest, latest of everything when they take up a hobby, but you will have that in ANY activity. As far as launching an anvil goes, I'd rather see one used for something, rather than horded and locked away from ANY use whatsoever by a "collector". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel&Clay Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Some people go to the movies for entertainment, others blast anvils 250 feet into the air. Everyones gotta like somethin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle spike Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Although an American Tradition, I never saw the point in it. You go asking for trouble, and it WILL find you. Think about the process, gunpowder, heavy object flying in the air, and a crowd of people. Kind of like a NASCAR Race without the fences, for the most part the cars stay on the track, but that one time they don't disaster.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry W. Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I read some history of LaCoste, Texas. Many years ago, they would shoot the anvil to warn the farmers downstream that the river was rising. Acording to this writing, it was not only done for entertainment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primtechsmith Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 ...one of the things that makes the anvil shoot so popular is the controversy that surrounds it... I dont mind it. But I do recognize the risk and usually stay further back than most. Peyton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Older welded up from pieces anvils would be more dangerous to use too, I own several old anvils where the welds have not stood the test of time just under regular blacksmithing use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 What's so wrong with dangerous? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Without a healthy curiosity and a taste for danger we'd still be living in caves and eating beetles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerbud Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Without a healthy curiosity and a taste for danger we'd still be living in caves and eating beetles. Be Careful, I'm twice as curious, intelligent, handsome, and educated as you, and I see nothing wrong with liveing in caves and eating beatles.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 This whole thing may of course lead to a congressional bill makeing it illegal to abuse an anvil. The radicals will jump all over this. And that may of course lead to shop inspections and having our anvils micro examined for evidence of abuse.. expect lab work for evidence of burnt powder and the impact damage from the landing area..And of course the plaster castings of the impact area to be examined. I don't even want to think about court mandated anvil abuse counseling or having to register as an abuser of anvils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal L Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 We could form an activist group call People for the Ethical Treatment of Anvils (PETA), oh wait.... that acronym is already taken :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Or establish the Peoples Republic of Anvil Torturing Terrorists (PRATT's for short) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Emig Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 This is a very contentious issue. It had a very negative effect on ABANA and some affiliates a few years ago. I guess we have to agree to disagree on some things. I for one have seen some bad stuff happen from explosions gone awry, so I will stay away from the whole anvil shoot idea. On another note, I thought that PETA stood for People Eat Tasty Animals. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Joking aside, why does anyone care what other people do with their own anvils? It's only a lump of metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reid Neilsen Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 Hehe - I am rather amused by the whole anvil shooting thing, but I just hope that they had the good sense to use compeltely junk anvils!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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