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Anvil Shooting!


Subdeacon Joe

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So if I wanted to watch one of these competitions...Should I bring a tiny umbrella?

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you know when you make a living using an anvil, it is kind of upsetting seeing all those anvils getting ruined

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you know when you make a living using an anvil, it is kind of upsetting seeing all those anvils getting ruined

 

Usually it doesn't damage the anvils. Maybe if one lands on the base anvil, or on a boulder it might be damaged. It has been going on for at least 150 years and the smiths seemed to just clean them off and put them back into service.

 

Interesting method of ignition here:

 

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you know when you make a living using an anvil, it is kind of upsetting seeing all those anvils getting ruined

Yeah... it breaks my heart to see that. I inherited a forge and a bunch of tools, but an anvil is elusive... at least one I can afford. And when I see 'em bein' blown skyward... :(

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First time I ever saw this was in Shane....at the 4th of July celebration.

 

The first link includes a link to a second article, about an unfortunate fellow who blew off his thumb and little finger while lighting the fuse on his anvil shot; it included this text:

 

""Tim lit the fuse with a cigar, so maybe ashes dropped off the cigar onto some powder," Wilkinson said. "Or it's possible sparks from the fuse hit some powder. Right now we just don't know."

 

Although the competition did continue after the accident, Wilkinson said that participants started using a longer fuse."

 

Good strategy.

 

LL

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First time I ever saw this was in Shane....at the 4th of July celebration.

 

The first link includes a link to a second article, about an unfortunate fellow who blew off his thumb and little finger while lighting the fuse on his anvil shot; it included this text:

 

""Tim lit the fuse with a cigar, so maybe ashes dropped off the cigar onto some powder," Wilkinson said. "Or it's possible sparks from the fuse hit some powder. Right now we just don't know."

 

Although the competition did continue after the accident, Wilkinson said that participants started using a longer fuse."

 

Good strategy.

 

LL

 

Don't use a cigar to light the fuse.

 

Better strategy.

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you know when you make a living using an anvil, it is kind of upsetting seeing all those anvils getting ruined

I agree I saw 2 fine 150 and 200 lb old (19th century I was told) english anvils destroyed about 30 years ago when the the one tossed up about 200 feet came right back down and smashed into the base anvil knocking the horn off of the flyer and smashing half of the base off of the launcher... if they have to do this they should use the cheap and mostly useless ( poor hardening of the working surface and improper ring and 'rebound' my smith friends tell me) ones from India the former USSSR, China and like places sold by outfits like harbor freight rather than high quality antiques that as has been said are getting hard to source at reasonable prices

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Yeah... it breaks my heart to see that. I inherited a forge and a bunch of tools, but an anvil is elusive... at least one I can afford. And when I see 'em bein' blown skyward... :(

 

Found This One at Harbor Freight.....

http://www.harborfreight.com/55-lb-anvil-806.html :ph34r:

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Anvil shooting exists in two different forms; competitive and ceremonial

 

The main difference is the amount of black powder involved.

 

The post above that references shooting anvils as part of the movie "Shane" is an example of cermonial anvil shooting. This was duplicated in the PBS "reality" series "Texas Ranch House'. I don't know how much powder was used in "Shane" but the latter used about 200 gr of Goex(vs 2 lbs for competitive). The obvious difference is the hieght the anvils reach(2 ft vs 200 ft).

 

Tthis link will describe the longest running annual ceremonial anvil shoot in America. In 3 months you have a chance to witness it still going on.

 

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/107363663.html

 

 

Incidently, for those of you concerned about the anvils, the same pair has been used in the above link since 1916 and they are not shot once on that morning. They are shot as long as there is someone around that wants to light them.

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you know when you make a living using an anvil, it is kind of upsetting seeing all those anvils getting ruined

 

 

Don't know about that. Don't know how many times I have been at a shoeing clinic. And on Sat night.

It would end up with shooting an anvil. Many times headed up by one of the best shoers in the country,

if not the world. Heck. Over half the American Farrier's Team would be in the middle of it.

 

P.S. They did brake the horn off one time. And it was a good Peter Wright Anvil at that.

But was later repaired by one of them. And then used by another shoer to make the

American Farrier's Team useing that same anvil.

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Yeah... it breaks my heart to see that. I inherited a forge and a bunch of tools, but an anvil is elusive... at least one I can afford. And when I see 'em bein' blown skyward... :(

 

 

http://emersonhorseshoe.net/shop/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=33

 

Here is one of the best new ones around.

I have 3 of them. Two 150#ers and one 100#er. Had one 150# in the shop and one on my truck. Then got tired of

unloading it and got the 100# for the truck.

 

Have had a few older anvils. But ended up selling them. Almost bought the anvil I talked about in the above post

that had the horn broke at one point. But they ended up keeping it.

Have been thinking about selling one of the 150#ers. I never use them any more. Seems like I always use the 100# anvil

on my truck. Don't think I have used either one of the 150# anvils in 5-6 years.

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Found This One at Harbor Freight.....

http://www.harborfreight.com/55-lb-anvil-806.html :ph34r:

Thanks, Monte, but those are... well... better doorstops than anvils. I think Harbor Freight got 'em as an unclaimed shipment to a former Mafia hitman who'd ordered 'em to sink folks into the bay. :rolleyes:

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Thanks, Monte, but those are... well... better doorstops than anvils. I think Harbor Freight got 'em as an unclaimed shipment to a former Mafia hitman who'd ordered 'em to sink folks into the bay. :rolleyes:

 

My friend with the forge calls them ASOs (anvil shaped objects) :rolleyes:

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Found This One at Harbor Freight.....

http://www.harborfreight.com/55-lb-anvil-806.html :ph34r:

 

Those are crap Ozark

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Just the thing for anvil flying, eh?

 

yep those would not bother me in the lest bit for anvil flying

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