Comments on: Episode 75: Myths Redux

By: Tristen

Tristen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:33:43 +0000

Well, they said it could chip.. but they were testing for a SHATTER.

It’s like the ‘break a rock with a bigger rock’ mentality. They’re looking for complete destruction, as if the hammer had a small bomb detonate inside it.

By: Dean

Dean — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:25:09 +0000

Another shattered hammer story…two of my uncles went for the same nail at the same time. A large sliver came off of one of the hammers and lodged in one uncle’s eye. Luckily he did not lose the eye, despite a long wait at the hospital. It was a large sliver, not a flake or chip, and it was a glancing blow that damaged the hammer.

By: Vickie

Vickie — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:27:08 +0000

A household hammer with the V on the end to remove nails repeatedly used on an anvil with copper rivets will indeed lose it’s its forks. I’ve done this twice now.

By: marcel

marcel — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:48:43 +0000

I saw episode 43 the other day where you busted: “A shotgun plugged by a human finger will backfire and explode injuring or killing the shooter instead of the intended victim.” myth and i wanted to make a suggestion what if you drilled the shotgun’s barrel so that the thickness of the barrel is very thin and you took of the support bar at the top of the shotgun wouldn’t that make it more likely to make a banana peel result? I don’t want to confirm the myth i want to help get the result you thrived for in the episode.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:24:54 +0000

I had a shotgun barrel banana peel on me in 2007 and I have the pictures to prove it. One thing is for sure, there was nothing obstructing the barrel prior to the shot. I checked that the barrel was clear from the breach before loading. I also used the proper sized shell. The cause was never determined, but I believe it was a defect in the barrel itself or perhaps the choke tube. It was the loudest sound I have ever heard!

By: Sam Whitley

Sam Whitley — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:21:05 +0000

As a former hunter education instructor, I can assure all present that a rifle or shotgun barrel plugged with any substance (including water, mud, ice, snow, finger, etc. can cause barrels to fail (usually split)in the manner shown in cartoons. Youtube has several videos of guns fired and barrels split in real time. I personally have several barrels I used as teaching aids whose barrels split as a result of various pluggages. Sometimes this was a bullet that didn’t make it out the muzzle and sometimes other things. As to the reader who surmised mathematically the Carlos Hathcock’s shot could not have traversed the length of a ’scope “exactly” longitudinally, he should remember that the Russian Moisan-Nagant rifle used against him had a short (about 150mm) long scope and that a bullet’s fall over such a short distance is minimal, even at very long range. As I recall (and I have read Hathcock’s book) the shot mentioned was made at a relatively short distance (not extremely long range) so the shot is possible. The bullet path, though it would obviously have been distorted by the lens strikes, would not likely have been deflected enough to miss the primary target behind the scope. From 50 years shooting experience plus hunter education instructor training and personal analysis, Hathcock’s “myth” positively confirmed. I have to agree with the folks that claim mythbusters guys are a couple of village idiots with more money than brains. And that if they don’t get the “results” they are trying for initially, they declare “busted” and move on.

By: Donovan

Donovan — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:01:08 +0000

One day about 25 years ago I was splitting eucalyptus for firewood when my splitting maul became stuck in the wood. I struck the back of the splitting maul with a sledgehammer to force the maul through the wood. When I did this, a small chip of metal flew off the backside of splitting maul. The chip flew off the splitting maul with enough force to go through my jeans & my skin & stop at the bone in my shin. It was extremely hot when it hit my leg. I’m not sure, but I think that the 2 were miss aligned when they collided.

By: Gina

Gina — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:57:44 +0000

This hammer-strike “myth” has sparked controversy in our magazine, Fine Woodworking, and on our Web site.

We ran a picture of a woodworker tapping two hammers together in out May/June issue and it provoked a continuing debate… if you have thoughts, feel free to weigh in in on our blog: http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/17562/reader-says-mythbusters-missed-on-hammer-strikes

By: steve

steve — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:23:51 +0000

I still have my x-ray photos on cd that show a chip off a hammer head in my hand. I won’t do that again!!

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:25:02 +0000

I know for a fact that a chip can come off an abused and worn hammer, a guy i work with lost an eye to it! another guy had a chip from a chisel lodge in his arm and block a blood vessel.