Launching Anvils 200 Feet Into the Air

It just needs a few nuts on top to tempt that squirrel.
A bit like this .
Del

Bugger it! Fell out of bed LMAO!!!!

I WANT ONE!

Not sure if we are related but, as a fellow Wilkinson I have to wonder if this is the family legacy?????????????

It looks like a lot of fun, but I think using an lighted fuse is extremely irresponsible. Why not use an electronic one?

Why is a lighted fuse "extremely irresponsible"? This technology has been around for centuries and manufactured fuses have reliable burn-times. I just don't see the problem.

I agree that something like canon fuse is very reliable and can be timed accurately. My concern is his approaching an area where gunpowder is present (not necessarily contained) with an exposed flame and most especially doing it with a civilian (observer) beside him.

Only the operator should be anywhere in range of the device during ignition. My concern with the gunpowder and flame is the chance that there is if there is some exposed powder that could ignite and enter the powder charge, igniting that. Then you have an unplanned explosion. With an electronic fuse there is no danger to those standing by and considering how easy it is to produce one, I can't the reason to use an open flame and endure the possible risk.

I worry that the operator is too comfortable with his process. Black powder can kill, it concerns me seeing someone giggle and smile while working with an explosive. Have a good time, but always take explosives seriously.

If you can explain to me how I am wrongly concerned, I'm ready to change my mind.

Cole

You should try being with us when we light this lot by hand, the picture only shows about half of the fireworks used.

So you pretty much have one of the coolest jobs on earth? Which company do you work with? I thought electric was the standard now in the pyrotechnic business. Oh I would love to play with some of the stuff in that picture!

I think using an lighted fuse is extremely irresponsible.
But an unlit fuse won't work.
You think electronics is more reliable and fool proof?
" Of course I havn't connected it yet...seeBOOOM! "
Del

This is nothing new, blacksmiths have been doing this for generations. I read about this in a blacksmithing book 10 years ago. They called it anvil blasting, stating that during celebrations the village blacksmiths would get their anvils out and pour some black powder in the concavity underneath and put another on top then light it off. It looked like their anvil had been modified to hold a more exact amount of powder plus it has a fuse hole. No way in heck I would abuse my anvil like that!

It is certainly irresponsible to set it off like they did today without showing the safety precautions required for a public showing, but that is the nature of web videos; let the observer beware.

Drew

Think of it as an opportunity to clean the gene pool. Next stop, The Darwin Awards. Who doesn't enjoy those?

So where's Wil E. Coyote when you really need him?

I happened to read this article yesterday. Turns out this guy lives about an hour away from me. Sure looks like he has fun doing this. Its got to be a rather expensive hobby though. A really good forged anvil can cost $1000s. And i wouldn't recommend using anything less than a forged anvil a cast one might turn into shrapnel.

I've heard the expression "He could f**k up an anvil". Now I've seen the video!

I actually did this as a kid. I've always been "into" chemistry and "things that go BANG", even as a youngster. One day, when I was about 7 years old, I found a very large blow torch in a tunnel under some RR tracks in Swampscott, behind where we lived on Lombard Terrace. The bottom screwed off such that "fuel" could be poured into the blow torch for use. I unscrewed the bottom, packed the insides with a mixture of KNO3 + K ClO4; charcoal, sulfur and powdered magnesium. Myself and a friend then placed the blow torch on a wire (55-gallon sized) basket we used for burning trash, lit a vigorous fire in the basket and hid behind a stone wall. When the "explosive" let go, it blew the bottom out of the blow torch, crushing the wire basket in the process, and the top of the blow torch, which I recall weighed a few pounds, disappeared essentially straight up. We never found the top of the blow torch and tank….

Maybe that's why I joined the Army to go to von Braun's Guided Missile and Rocket School in Huntsville, AL. My MOS on graduation was missile and rocket warheads, explosives and propellants. I next spent some time at White Sands PG, launching real missiles and rockets!!

Looks like good fun. However, I'll stick to launching model rockets to impress the kids. Chasing the parachutes is half the fun for the kids! Chasing falling anvils - probably not so fun!!!

There are two practices in his performance I seriously question. (1) leaning over the black-powder charged anvil to place the anvil to be shot; and (2) leaning over the charged anvils to light the fuse. An early discharge at either step would lead to a quick and messy demise.

Not mentions above but this is how you make an anvil ring and they do ring. That is until they land.

Not mentions above but this is how you make an anvil ring
I made Mrs Cat an anvil ring, but when she wears it she can't lift her hand.
Del