"The joy of sex don't last like the fun of shootin' anvils"

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By Sean Michael Ragan
Posted 2009/10/21 @ 2:12 pm
Category General, Makers, Science

To “shoot,” an anvil, for the record, is to blast it several hundred feet into the air using a charge of black powder. This delightful man, Gay Wilkinson, is apparently the world’s champion anvil-shooter. The fireworks start at 1:30. [via Boing Boing]

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12 Responses to "The joy of sex don't last like the fun of shootin' anvils"

Anonymous on October 21st, 2009 at 3:34 pm said:

That is the most insanely dangerous thing I have seen!!!

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Gilberti on October 21st, 2009 at 3:39 pm said:

Now that is voiding your warranty!

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- Oldbear on October 21st, 2009 at 4:18 pm said:
  
  But the anvil still looks like new, and thats the best part… I’d say the two anvils have been used before. Now that is some quality engineering… nothing I’ve designed could be blown up 100ft, embed itself in the ground and be good-to-go the next time.
  
  How am I going to explain the hole in my shop when I try this on the weekend?
  
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Scott on October 21st, 2009 at 3:59 pm said:

I’d have moved my truck a little farther away.

Really, this is the proper way to teach high school students about h=1/2*g*t^2 and cos(theta)=a/h and such. The hairspray fueled tennis ball cannons that we used didn’t quite do it justice.

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Marcel on October 21st, 2009 at 4:22 pm said:

ROFL.

ROFL.

ROFL.

ROFL.

Tears of laughter welling up. That’s one hazardous Sunday afternoon out!

What happens when the casting shatters? – and everyone gets a bit of anvil?

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Marcel on October 21st, 2009 at 4:29 pm said:

D’ya notice how the anvil don’t bounce at the end there?

Once I stopped laughing I started shaking my head, then I started laughing again.

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Ian on October 21st, 2009 at 4:50 pm said:

if he was off level the anvil could easily of reached the people and cameraman.
and that landing on your head would hurt, and difficult to gauge when falling on you which way to dodge before splat!

oh and the risk of the casting failing like the other comment said..

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ROB K636 on October 21st, 2009 at 7:58 pm said:

It was at a rendezvous in Missouri near the Lake of the Ozarks. He did not fill it full like in this video but it was still maybe half of what was in the bottom one.

Shot more than 50ft.

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XsavioR on October 21st, 2009 at 10:42 pm said:

Lets be honest a fuse, a bunch of gunpowder , and basically any thing you can combine with it and walk away from is a good time. (does tim the tool man taylor grunt)

I do feel this is a page waiting to be print in the book of “it seemed like a good idea at the time”. And should have some sort of a do not try at home sticker on it.

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carl on October 22nd, 2009 at 11:13 am said:

how does one come up with such ideas? and he’s a “champion”? does that mean there are more of them and even a sub-culture of enthusiasts? wow.

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Austringer on October 22nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm said:

Real anvils aren’t cast – they’re forged. I can’t so for every cast anvil, but my Fisher 180 lb. anvil doesn’t have the kind of indentation in the bottom that the forged anvils do.

The embarasing part (by embarassing I mean potentially fatal) is when the forge weld between the top and bottom portions of the anvils breaks. As I understand it, the top half kind of falls to the ground on takeoff and the bottom half goes faster, farther and, uh, somewhere.

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mikeisbored on January 21st, 2010 at 12:36 pm said:

that looks fun. not going to try it. I had a friend who used to do the same thing with cast iron pots. One day he got one stuck in a tree. pretty hilarious/fairly unsafe.

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