A little late, but instead of going to see traditional fireworks on the 4th I took my kids to see an anvil shoot at The Museum of Appalachia in Clinton TN.

This was the way pioneers celebrated the 4th and other big events. The have an anvil with a recessed indentation in the top. I assume that some anvils have this already. I don't think they had special anvils just for an anvil shoot. They poured about a pound of black powder in the indentation with a fuse. The put a thin steel plate on top of it then place another anvil on top of the plate. When the powder went off ti shot the anvil a good 50-60 feet in the air. Loud as shit.

I am sure they do this other places. It is pretty neat. If you get a chance check it out. Bring earplugs if you have them. We stuck balls of napkin in our ears.

I'd have to assume it began with a very well used anvil since they're not extremely easy to dent without really working at it for a long time and untold blisters..
Someone probably thought it's a good idea to grind the inner portion of the top down,  but it kind of makes an anvil useless for its intended purpose..unless you're making sheet metal with that particular shape in the first place which may very well have been how it started..
As for myself I don't get that excited by explosions especially large metal items that tend to become kind of unpredictable whilst exploding. How'd you like a big chunk of cast iron fly up and land on you?  I probably wouldn't enjoy it a whole lot...possibly not even a tiny little bit.. I did see a coworker get a good portion of his leg removed by an exploding gas cylinder. It was not a particularly fun sight to behold..

(07-11-2021, 10:49 AM)grampahol Wrote: I'd have to assume it began with a very well used anvil since they're not extremely easy to dent without really working at it for a long time and untold blisters..

I am no expert on anvils, but I have seen a few.  So I don't know if the indentation was already there for some special use, or if the ground it out just for shooting anvils.  But these were the big full-sized ones.  I'd say they probably weighed 200 lbs.  

What my dad used as an anvil was a piece of railroad track about a foot long.  It did not look big at all, but it was heavy as shit,

When I try to imagine an anvil shoot, I keep getting a vision of a Road Runner cartoon in my head.

(07-11-2021, 11:15 AM)fredtoast Wrote: What my dad used as an anvil was a piece of railroad track about a foot long.  It did not look big at all, but it was heavy as shit,

Just looked it up.

Standard size track weighs 43 lbs per foot but it can vary from 25 to 58.  I was going to guess that dad's piece weighed 40-50 lbs.

(07-11-2021, 11:20 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: When I try to imagine an anvil shoot, I keep getting a vision of a Road Runner cartoon in my head.

There is a metalworking company called Acme Tools and last year I ordered a 55lb anvil from them. The UPS guy dropped it off and this was the first time he has ever asked me what was in the package. I spun the box and showed him the side he must not have noticed in the corner it said Acme and then in huge letters ANVIL. The guy laughed so hard it brought tears to his eyes.

Pioneers were dumb

(07-11-2021, 09:48 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Pioneers were dumb

boredom + Explosives and anything can happen

(07-11-2021, 09:48 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Pioneers were dumb

They were smart enough to know how to shoot an anvil in the air.

That is more than 99% of the people here could do safely.

(07-12-2021, 01:27 PM)fredtoast Wrote: They were smart enough to know how to shoot an anvil in the air.

That is more than 99% of the people here could do safely.

Most probably haven't given it much thought.

But I'm willing to bet there was a mishap or 2 along the way..

(07-12-2021, 11:29 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: boredom + Explosives and anything can happen

I'm going to bet that some corn whiskey was also in the mix..

I’ve been around long enough here to know some of Fred’s posts.

I was really thinking this thread was going to be some kind of weird perverted Tennessee sex fantasy. The anvil…….

(07-11-2021, 09:48 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Pioneers were dumb

And yet smart enough to figure out how to sail from Europe to the continental new world and build a nation. Just clearing half the land in Ohio probably killed thousands alone since nearly everything from the east coast to the Mississippi was forest land.. I bet they never sat home complaining online about some guy in a bar..

Gotta love country folk. Especially when they get some moonshine in 'em. "Who needs fireworks? We have gunpowder and we have anvils."

(07-12-2021, 11:29 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: boredom + Explosives and anything can happen

A bored drunk man with explosives is about as dangerous a thing as you can find.

(07-11-2021, 11:15 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I am no expert on anvils, but I have seen a few.  So I don't know if the indentation was already there for some special use, or if the ground it out just for shooting anvils.  But these were the big full-sized ones.  I'd say they probably weighed 200 lbs.  

What my dad used as an anvil was a piece of railroad track about a foot long.  It did not look big at all, but it was heavy as shit,

The indentation on the top of the Anvil is for putting a hole in a piece of metal. You heat the metal red hot, place where you want the hole over the indentation, and hammer a spike into the metal, creating a hole.