Penn & Teller - Nail Gun

[DJKOR]

I just saw this on TV then. Always liken Penn & Teller. Just goes to show how good Penn's memory is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLMoGkHEsVA

[Pah]

Crazy stuff I once saw my boss at the time shoot a 3" nail through his finger it was not a nice look

[jeffy]

WTF @ 2:35 :o !

[trentmeyer23]

Those guys are the pinacle of magic, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. Been around for YEARS and still amazing audiences.

[01 VEY]

Don't watch if you have a heart condition.

Pretty cool though

[maca_10]

dont wanna hijack your thread but check this one out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpthjI1z2FM

Go figure

[Hybrid Camry]

he hasnt memorized any sequence...

the mail gun has been modified...

when firing a nail, the head is being pushed down and the trigger pulled - nail gets fired out.

when NOT firing a nail, he is merely putting his hand at the head and pulling the trigger...

Any other theory???

[DJKOR]

he hasnt memorized any sequence...

the mail gun has been modified...

when firing a nail, the head is being pushed down and the trigger pulled - nail gets fired out.

when NOT firing a nail, he is merely putting his hand at the head and pulling the trigger...

Any other theory???

He clearly pulls out the strip of nails in which you can see the gaps where nails have been removed. The nail gun needs to work it's way past these empty spaces and to do that, it needs to be triggered. If the nail gun was not to advance when he was "firing the blanks" then the act itself would not work. I know these things are all about illusion and whatnot, but something like this doesn't mean that he can't pull off such an act.

[Steven]

As said, nail guns feed and fire the piston in the same motion, so any 'misfire' won't advance the belt and those empty gaps won't get progressed.

Further as a safety issue built in to nail guns they won't fire unless the head is depressed. You won't hear the piston fire, instead you will either hear nothing or a small vent of pressurised air.

What DOES get me though is the sheer number of "fires", the gun is still firing the same pressure despite no compressor kicking in to repump the tank. A framing gun like that uses a fair bit of pressure and works best around 100psi. Further the impact in which it's firing into the wood I would conclude they have the pressure regulated down very low (less than 50 psi), as at full pressure even with a steel table the piece of wood wouldn't just sit there like that.

With the pressure that low the nail would still penetrate skin but wouldn't go anywhere near penetrating his hand.

[Hybrid Camry]

he hasnt memorized any sequence...

the mail gun has been modified...

when firing a nail, the head is being pushed down and the trigger pulled - nail gets fired out.

when NOT firing a nail, he is merely putting his hand at the head and pulling the trigger...

Any other theory???

He clearly pulls out the strip of nails in which you can see the gaps where nails have been removed. The nail gun needs to work it's way past these empty spaces and to do that, it needs to be triggered. If the nail gun was not to advance when he was "firing the blanks" then the act itself would not work. I know these things are all about illusion and whatnot, but something like this doesn't mean that he can't pull off such an act.

he didnt remove the strip from the gun... 1:44 in the video, he picks it up off the table...

the gun has been modified to vent when triggered without the head being pushed back (see vid @1:37)

[DJKOR]

he didnt remove the strip from the gun... 1:44 in the video, he picks it up off the table...

the gun has been modified to vent when triggered without the head being pushed back (see vid @1:37)

Good point. I clearly haven't watched the video for a while (considering I posted this last month). But who's to say that that the nail gun hasn't been modified to vent, rather it has been modified to trigger without the safety trigger? One way or another, there will always be believers and sceptics and I guess neither of us can be said to be correct without knowing.

[trentmeyer23]

You're both wrong...It's magic! :P