ThomasPowers Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Note that the injury was not due to anvil shooting as much as messing around with gunpowder---but I bet everyone will ascribe it to anvil shooting. To me this is like someone cleaning racing car parts with gasoline and it going up and hurting them. It's not a race car issue it's an issue in handling dangerous substances correctly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I hate to be an "I toldja so," but I was contacted early on by 'Discovery' about the anvil shooting via my website. I wrote telling them that it would be much better to talk about the "rediscovery of blacksmithing" which started about 1970, because in the decade of the 1960's, blacksmithing was moribund. I averred that it would be good to show some current work of the good smiths. My suggestion had nothing to do with anvil shooting safety per se, but rather something more important, the resuscitation of blacksmithing in the U.S. Is an anvil shoot more exciting than contemporary ironwork? To me, it's not. To the viewing public, maybe. At my school, we used to sometimes shoot anvils in the 70's and 80's to celebrate a graduating class, and we were happy if the anvil went 2 to 6 feet in the air. Not a contest. We always used a long, slow burning cannon fuse. We stood way back, because the spray from the explosion could get in the eyes. This contest thing of how high, is recent and can be run by non-smiths who don't know a heel from a horn. To me, rediculous. I feel for Colonel Tim Ryan, whom I had met briefly years ago. I do not know the specifics of what happened during the accident. My two cents. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 The Anvil Shoot? A time honored tradition or dangerous stunt?........It can go either way. I've seen dozens go off with no problem, and a one that easily could have ended in death and dismemberment at the 1982 ABANA conference at De Pere, Wisconsin. It involved plenty of beer and some guys who ''knew'' what they were doing.......I'd rather abana ban that rather than the beer.................. My 2c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip in china Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I worked out a cost for forging an anvil here. I contacted the person with the price and have heard nothing since. I assume that being a TV programme they expect us to work for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I worked out a cost for forging an anvil here. I contacted the person with the price and have heard nothing since. I assume that being a TV programme they expect us to work for free. Could have been something about filming overseas as well...may not have been in their plan or maybe the combined costs. At any rate I think they were leaning toward the group that welded the face on an anvil at SOFA a few years ago. I told them I would make a 60 pounds anvil, but not larger. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Update One competitor was seriously injured in the tournament. Tim Ryan from North Carolina lost his thumb when his anvil prematurely ignited. He was airlifted to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. Four member of a Science Channel film crew were treated for burns at a local hospital. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 A smith needs all his fingers and eyes. To me this is just macho chest thumping. I would rather see some one make something beautiful or original than blow stuff up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old N Rusty Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Anvils and explosives could be combined in explosion welding the tool steel plate to a wrought iron anvil body. That would be a show! and an anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip in china Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 It horrifies me how some people play with explosives and other stuff such as thermite. They perhaps see something on youtube and assume that that then trains them as a demolitions engineer. Believe me it doesn't. Such things need proper training and experience. It's like teasing the crocodiles. You might get away with it every day for a long time but eventually they will get you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Anvils and explosives could be combined in explosion welding the tool steel plate to a wrought iron anvil body. That would be a show! and an anvil. Incredible power, welding with explosives. Here's another creative use http://youtu.be/d3n7meSl71k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Injuries are very sad. Being perhaps over-concerned about my own safety, when I see people playing with explosives and anvils I turn around and get as far away as possible. I recommend that folks that want to play with black powder consider joining a Civil War artillery group. My humble understanding is that there are two types of artillery groups, the ones that use blank charges at reenactments, and the groups that go to target competitions with the mid-1800s era canons and fire solid projectiles at targets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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