Anvil Firing

I have an interest in Blacksmithing and old handtool Woodworking. Sorta like what Roy Underhill does at the Woodwright’s Shop on PBS.

One thing, sorta gun related, that used to be done when blacksmiths and farriers were popular was Anvil Firing. What is that? Simple. You select 2 anvils or roughly equal. Many anvils have a slightly dished up bottom. You want 2 anvils whose bases sort of match. You take one anvil and set it Face down on the ground or a stump, you then pour black powder in the concave bottom that is now facing up. Now set the second anvil right side up to sort of seal in the black powder in the cavity between the two 128+ hundredweight pieces of Arn. Sometimes a paper gasket is used to help the seal. Then set a trail of black powder to the charge.

And like all fireworks, "Light, and get away"

Far away.

When the blackpowder goes off the upper anvil jumps up into the air. Sometimes quite far into the air. With a delightful ring and subsequent thud.

A video by some known at ihatejackblack:



TINK!

Heh, look! Gunblogger Joe Huffman does it at boomershoot sometimes!

This was an especially popular pastime around Independence Day. Who needs fireworks when every town has a smithy.

Is it safe? HELL no. Sometimes the anvil lands on people that venture too close. And it's not like a Warner Bros. cartoon.

Sometimes cast iron shrapnel cracks off of one of the now-weakened hulks and flys around horizontally at the plane of 'crotch-level.' Lots of things can go wrong

Here is a video by whizkid250 to give you an idea what an anvil 150 feet in the air looks like:



And here is a 'safe' shoot by m4gery: