A Little Too Much Powder Butch?
- Thread starter D Coots
- Start date
About 30 years ago we were asked to demo an old schoolhouse the next canyon over. Myself and another guy calculated the charges needed for all the supporting columns and beams and turned it over to the drill and blast foreman at the mine. He was an old demo guy in the Marines during Vietnam. Unbeknownst to us, he doubled all the charge weights and for good measure threw in a few bags of ANFO with boosters on the floor. When everything was ready and the site was cleared he touched it off. The building literally vaporized in a cloud of dust. After a few moments though the shingles, shards of wood beams, glass, bits of brick and what not began raining down upon us. We just about knocked ourselves out running into one other diving under the trucks to avoid getting hit by the falling debris.
Epilogue is the D&B foreman became the new truck and shovel foreman.
Epilogue is the D&B foreman became the new truck and shovel foreman.
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skeeljc
Gold $$ Contributor
A long time ago there was a farm family with seven boys. Needless to say they often found ways to amuse themselves. A favorite was filling large trash bags with oxygen and acetelene and taking them out a few hundred yards into a plowed field, setting a worn out disc nearby and setting it off with a .243. Once one brother took to filling the bags in the basement (it was cold outside). When he was carrying one up the stairs a static charge set it off and blew out all the basement windows.
Used to work as a heavy equipment mechanic at a strip mine digging coal.
The high wall was drilled vertically ,18”. Holes drilled 100 ft. Deep. They were filled many 100 lb bags of ammonium nitrate, detonators and primer cord. The wall was also drilledhorizontally and packed with the same explosives. These holes extended for 1 mile along the high wall. Then this was detonated sequentially using what looked like a miniature harp n wand connected to a battery. Pretty impressive to see that set off at night. The orange fire that came out of those drilled holes looked like 50-60 missle silos launching rockets. It took the better part of the day for the dust to settle.
The high wall was drilled vertically ,18”. Holes drilled 100 ft. Deep. They were filled many 100 lb bags of ammonium nitrate, detonators and primer cord. The wall was also drilledhorizontally and packed with the same explosives. These holes extended for 1 mile along the high wall. Then this was detonated sequentially using what looked like a miniature harp n wand connected to a battery. Pretty impressive to see that set off at night. The orange fire that came out of those drilled holes looked like 50-60 missle silos launching rockets. It took the better part of the day for the dust to settle.
D Coots
Silver $$ Contributor
I was more nervous messing with acetylene garbage bags due to static electricity than loading a shot in the quarry.
D Coots
Silver $$ Contributor
Damn that would be awesome to view. More controlled chaos...
Greg@wfcustom
Gold $$ Contributor
Or a little oxy-acetylene under the upside down garbage can, apparently I’m not a rocket scientist
I did however pull weeds all summer paying for ours & the next door neighbors windows!
Circa 1966 or so.That’s the problem with kids these days, they don’t get to play with explosives!
G
D Coots
Silver $$ Contributor
Can't believe they didn't use a bulk anfo truck that mixes fuel oil and fertilizer on site.
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JSH
Gold $$ Contributor
I am glad there were no types of apparatus to involve me when filmed.
1980 something around the 4th of July, me and some cronies decided we were going to test a theory, prior to hold my beer and watch this era.
Some BP, duct tape, cotton, roll of TP and some cannon fuse. We made a firecracker.
All was set and done. I had “studied” on this a bit and was pretty sure it would not be to bad.
We decided to set this on top of a RR tie that was set up as a corner post for an electric fence on a quarter section of pasture. Mind you, this is close to a mile from my house.
Now the setting. This was along side of an old RR track that was abandoned in the mid 50’s. The post in question was in the middle of the old right of way just above where a small bridge crossed a creek. So we deemed, low and below the blast we would be safe.
Powder and cotton were packed in the TP tube. Then numerous strips of duct tape applied all over the outside, a silver roll of TP if you will.
Fuse length was our first safety issue. We did several test to see what we needed to get under cover. That was decided and agreed upon.
The fuse was lit and all run like hell to get to the ditch.
The thing went off and way more kaboom than planned……
The dust settled. Every thing around us seemed to be on fire. It had not rained in a long while.
Shirts off and beating fires out every where. Several trips to a nearby pond to wet them down and beat fires out.
After all the hiatus was over we all swore never again
Got home later and mom and dad both talking about the “static thunder”. What is that I asked.
Both said about mid day there was a heck of clap of thunder. Neighbors heard it too.
Of coarse I knew nothing.
Forward a bit and time to help neighbor put up electric fence. We get to the corner post and it is splinters and charred. Well look at that static lightening must have hit it.
That was my first and last of being a pyrotechnic technician.
You can’t make this S up.
1980 something around the 4th of July, me and some cronies decided we were going to test a theory, prior to hold my beer and watch this era.
Some BP, duct tape, cotton, roll of TP and some cannon fuse. We made a firecracker.
All was set and done. I had “studied” on this a bit and was pretty sure it would not be to bad.
We decided to set this on top of a RR tie that was set up as a corner post for an electric fence on a quarter section of pasture. Mind you, this is close to a mile from my house.
Now the setting. This was along side of an old RR track that was abandoned in the mid 50’s. The post in question was in the middle of the old right of way just above where a small bridge crossed a creek. So we deemed, low and below the blast we would be safe.
Powder and cotton were packed in the TP tube. Then numerous strips of duct tape applied all over the outside, a silver roll of TP if you will.
Fuse length was our first safety issue. We did several test to see what we needed to get under cover. That was decided and agreed upon.
The fuse was lit and all run like hell to get to the ditch.
The thing went off and way more kaboom than planned……
The dust settled. Every thing around us seemed to be on fire. It had not rained in a long while.
Shirts off and beating fires out every where. Several trips to a nearby pond to wet them down and beat fires out.
After all the hiatus was over we all swore never again
Got home later and mom and dad both talking about the “static thunder”. What is that I asked.
Both said about mid day there was a heck of clap of thunder. Neighbors heard it too.
Of coarse I knew nothing.
Forward a bit and time to help neighbor put up electric fence. We get to the corner post and it is splinters and charred. Well look at that static lightening must have hit it.
That was my first and last of being a pyrotechnic technician.
You can’t make this S up.
JSH we made a very similar device when hunting season was over every year. We decide we would not risk a misfire on a good buck, so all BP was used from the past season because it might have pick up moisture during hunting season. Half a toilet paper tube 1 foot of waterproof fuse from the hardware, and a trip to Fred's house for tape. He worked for southern bell and would give use a sleeve of black tape anytime we needed it. We used these devices for fishing and with a little prep they worked. Bait fishing hole with dog food or bread for a week, then light fuse and toss in with feed. Fishing was always good.
durand mortenson
Gold $$ Contributor
I see you are still at it. Great photoAnswering Lil Joe and getting away from messing up Bart's post.
Back when I was in the quarry business blasting limestone was part of it. We'd usually shoot 25K tons or so at a time. This particular blast was Bed 12 in my quarry nearby. This ledge was very hard to get breakage towards the top because there was a massive 5 foot bed of rock that broke really hard. We used a pretty tight drill pattern on this ledge. 10"X10' with 4" diameter holes usually about 18' deep. You fill the holes with explosives as high as needed to contain the blast, but still have sufficient breakage so the blasted stone will go through the crusher without plugging it. Out primary crusher would accept a 43" wide rock 38" tall. In a few seconds it would exit the crusher in approximately 5" pieces. We used a water gel on this ledge because there was usually water in the drill holes..i think it was Tovan?? a dupont product. Most blast holes in other ledges we filled to within 8 to 10 feet from the top depending on the laminations. Then we filled the hole to the top with 1" limestone. That's called stemming. Anyhow Bed 12 we filled the holes within 5 feet from the top to get the breakage desired. If the rock was to big to go through the crusher, you incurred costs for secondary breakage which was much more that drilling and shooting. Due to the fact it took about a day and a half to pull the plant and reset it, we blasted with it setting there. You notice the rock blowing way up in the air....but look at the bottom of the shot being blasted...we pushed up a shelf of rock in front to keep the face from blowing out and hitting the plant..(hopefully). There's 2-300 dollars worth of equipment setting there......View attachment 1386714
My daughter was a professional photographer and just happened to be there that day taking pics for our 50th anniversary celebration. Made a great picture.
Later
Dave
Mort
D Coots
Silver $$ Contributor
Nope. Sold out 4 years ago after 2 years of negotiations.....
Used to play with explosives a little. May have loaded one hole too high....
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Three splinters of steel
.bluealtered
Silver $$ Contributor
Ahhhhh, yes boys and their toys, some things never change.
To answer your question swimster, you can set off a charge next to buildings depending on what your using to do so and how you set the charge up.
In the mid 1970's I had a blasting company and did some powder work for a company that was putting 1000 pair phone cable under ground from Fresno to Yosemite national park in California. The cable was plowed in with D8 cats with a 6' plow tooth on the back. This worked fine until they came out of the Fresno valley along hwy. 41 which is the way into Yosemite park from Fresno. Once they started climbing up the hills to the park they hit what we called blue granite.
That part of the Sierra's is for the most part granite rock and you will never plow anything in it. At one point while going through the town of Oakhurst The cable had to go within 2' of a store full of plate glass windows, my crew and I used shaped charges drilled 4' down and after I set the charges in the hole we mixed the granite dust from the hole into a slurry and put back into the blast hole and let it set up almost as hard as it was before we drilled it. We then placed wet burlap sacks on top of that and chain link fencing on top of that and then put old car tires on top of that.
I set the charge off very early the next morning before hwy. 41 got moving since we were working within 50' of the hwy and right next to the store. Everything went just as it should an we moved on to the next place to shoot.
This type of blasting was very common in that area because that area had become poplar and people were buying up the land for their cabins which they built and then found that they had to put in their septic systems in or across large patch's of granite.
There were three other blasters in that area but none of them would touch those jobs. That made it very good paying work.
To answer your question swimster, you can set off a charge next to buildings depending on what your using to do so and how you set the charge up.
In the mid 1970's I had a blasting company and did some powder work for a company that was putting 1000 pair phone cable under ground from Fresno to Yosemite national park in California. The cable was plowed in with D8 cats with a 6' plow tooth on the back. This worked fine until they came out of the Fresno valley along hwy. 41 which is the way into Yosemite park from Fresno. Once they started climbing up the hills to the park they hit what we called blue granite.
That part of the Sierra's is for the most part granite rock and you will never plow anything in it. At one point while going through the town of Oakhurst The cable had to go within 2' of a store full of plate glass windows, my crew and I used shaped charges drilled 4' down and after I set the charges in the hole we mixed the granite dust from the hole into a slurry and put back into the blast hole and let it set up almost as hard as it was before we drilled it. We then placed wet burlap sacks on top of that and chain link fencing on top of that and then put old car tires on top of that.
I set the charge off very early the next morning before hwy. 41 got moving since we were working within 50' of the hwy and right next to the store. Everything went just as it should an we moved on to the next place to shoot.
This type of blasting was very common in that area because that area had become poplar and people were buying up the land for their cabins which they built and then found that they had to put in their septic systems in or across large patch's of granite.
There were three other blasters in that area but none of them would touch those jobs. That made it very good paying work.
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Greg@wfcustom
Gold $$ Contributor
Reminds of the time we filled a small plastic model of some battleship, (the type we used to build before sniffing glue became a thing, I know I'm aging myself.) with BP, cannon fuse out the smokestack light er up and float it on down the creek. The waterspout was impressive, so were all the dead fish that started floating up
... exit stage left!G
PS: Perfect example of my tag
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