Pasture Party Pics

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Just got back from Daniel Boone's Pasture Party. Great day and real nice weather. His shop is to die for. I'll post a series of photo posts.
The day began and ended with the "Shooting of the Anvil", along with a shot from a Civil War style 2" field howitzer. The anvil was blown about 80 feet straight up. The crowd was big, and everyone had a ball with the three hundred or more "Iron in the Hat" prizes. The tail gating was superb,too. There were more anvils for sale than I have ever seen in one place. The average price was about $2/Lb. There was a 200# Peter Wright for $350, which was about the average price of most anvils there, regardless of size. Every tool you could want was available from Tom-tongs to Hoffi hammer, to antiques. I bough a great mid 1800's scythe, a silage saw, and a matched set of hames....all for $40. Lunch was great, and the demos were informative. Dan and Judy are the perfect hosts. BTW, he is Daniel Boone the sixth, a direct descendant of "The" Daniel Boone.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

More photos:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

And more. Here is a close up of the "flying Anvil...which weighs 100 pounds.

 

[argel55]

Looks like a fun day. Thanks for the pics.

 

[jonnymac44]

Great pics, Stacy! Thanks for sharing. Sometimes I hate being out here on the left coast. We never get to see this stuff.

 

[Railrider1920]

Thanks for the photos Stacy. Looks like there was plenty of fun to be had. In this pic, what are the things directly behind the hammers? Are they anvils made for specific purposes?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

They are swage/swedge blocks. They are used for shaping metal. The metal is pounded over the appropriate depression of curve. They also have punching holes in them, used when hot punching metal for to make round or square holes. There is a domed staking tools dropped in a hole in the middle block, and a square staking tool sitting on the right hand block. Finally, there is a "Smithin' Magician" fullering tool sitting on the left hand block.

 

[Dixieblade57]

They are swage/swedge blocks. They are used for shaping metal. The metal is pounded over the appropriate depression of curve. They also have punching holes in them, used when hot punching metal for to make round or square holes. There is a domed staking tools dropped in a hole in the middle block, and a square staking tool sitting on the right hand block. Finally, there is a "Smithin' Magician" fullering tool sitting on the left hand block.

Most definitely those are swage/swedge blocks. I have never seen them that large before! Hey Stacy it looks like all had a great time celebrating Southern tradition and or pounding/flying iron :thumbup:

 

[artificialj]

Stacy - That flying anvil picture is amazing: looks like it has a halo around it!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, I got a good set of photos. I got downrange a bit and braced myself to be sturdy. I started snapping continuous shots as the gent poured and lit the powder. When the blast came, I couldn't see the anvil????...until I swung the came upward and there it was spinning in the air 80 to 100 feet up. I shot it as it reached apogee and tumbled back to earth. I shot about 50 shots in fifteen seconds and picked these out as the best depiction of the chain of events.
Here are a few more:

 

[Railrider1920]

Thanks Stacy

 

[Mike Craddock]

Stacy
I work with Michael Boone he is Daniels brother. Mike was also at the pasture party says hes going to take me up there next year.
he also tells me Daniel is a world class blacksmith.

Mike

 

[BustaCrook]

Thanks for sharing and I wish I would have known about the event. Time for me to google it and hopefully plan for next year.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Dan and his wife Judy are great folks. Just a visit to his shop is worth a day's trip. His work is fantastic, and his shop is just too clean and neat to describe.
There was so much more than I described to see. You could spend several hours just reading all the old signs around the shops. Everywhere you look there is a garden with blacksmith items and antiques. He has a freeform bell tower with "chimes" made from welding tanks....and a rubber mallet hanging there to 'play' the bells.The cupola on his shop is a playhouse for his grandkids.
And so much more.

 

[tryppyr]

You metal movers have WAY too much fun. I can only look with envy at pictures like these. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[Dan Boone]

Stacy, thanks for sharing your pics with these folks. Glad you had a good day... sharing our love of blacksmithing is what it is all about.

 

[Ed Braun]

My face. Seeing the anvil fly. At one point, before I began smithing, I thought anvil launches pretty nifty. Now, after exhausting every resource trying to find one, I...I will light a candle tonight for that poor, poor flying anvil.
*sigh*2 bucks a pound would be super right now.

That shop is one Merlin would die for--I'm probably very much wrong, but I do believe a picture of one of Daniel's swage blocks is in one of Jock Dempsy's galleries, a Henry Wright.
And good lord, that post vice he's operating in the background's a good, what? 8 or 10"? Thing must weigh 300# alone.

Whenever I see after-pics from hammer-ins and so on, I always hear Clooney's line from "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" when he can no longer get DapperDan, "I must live in a geographically isolated phenomenon."

Oy...

Thank you for the incredible pictures Stacy, truly, that has got to be an event worth looking forward to, I only wish I could someday attend.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Those are last years photos, but this year was the same. Dan and his lovely wife Judy are the perfect hosts for this event every year. I got a sweatshirt that says, "Daniel Boone's Pasture Party - Where Anvils Fly".

I shot video of the anvil blasting this year. I have to figure out how to post it, but will get around to it soon.
The anvil shot straight up and landed about eight feet from where it took off. Distance is hard to judge in the air, but it had to go up over 50 feet, maybe as much as 60.

I did take a few still shots of the setup, and post blast shots. In the setup shot, you can see the hole behind the anvil where the test shot landed. You can see the sod from that shot still hanging on the anvil in the photos, too.The 9AM blast landed within 1 foot of that hole.
The powder is placed between the two anvils, and the ramp is placed against them. Powder is poured up the ramp. The flame goes up the ramp and ignites the powder between the anvils. BOOM!!!!! Anvils Fly.