Target

S

sandness

Joined
Jan 31, 2006
Messages
27
So my original target was a plywood sheet. Not the best for sticking to say the least. And after tossing the knives for a while, it looked like a beaver attacked with all the wood splinters abound. So after putting a fist-size hole in the board, it was out of commission.

From doing some reading on here, it sound like using end grain for the target was the best way to go. Unfortunately I couldn't find any big logs. So I chopped up a 2x12 into a bunch of 2 1/2" blocks, glued and screwed them to a plywood board. Works great, was just a lot of work to for one target. I hope it lasts a good long while.

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For the future, is there any other target options that wouldn't require so much hassle to build?
 
Son that looks like some work . If you live near a good sized city ? Go see city workers cutting down trees . Thats how I get my stumps/logs . The only hard part is getting them in the back seat of my Hyundai . Thats a nice target you made . It,ll give you enough time to scare up something easier to make .
 



my target... Pretty worn out now... But every now and then i go out to the forested areas to find dead trees to stick on
 
Very nice target. It shows a good deal of commitment to the sport. As you can probably already tell, it will wear out eventually. You could prolong its life by adding some replacable rounds to the face like I did to your image below.
target_sandness.jpg
 
I see it now.

I think the neighbors would probably call the cops if my target was a human silhouette.

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I have just a couple knives right now (working on building a few more). Top one is the first knife shaped object I made from 1/4" mild steel barstock. It was nearing completion when I found the forum and found that mild steel won't harden. So, after spending bunch of time on a wood handle (which broke- not fit for a thrower) and putting the rustic patina on it, it was doomed to be thrown. Surprisingly enough, the tip holds up pretty well and keeps an edge that's good enough to stick. The knife on the bottom is a 10" Colt thrower from the sporting goods store. Not bad for $15, as it holds up very well and is better balanced for throwing

Adding rounds to it is not a bad idea. I'll have to do some scavenging.
 
sandness said:
I see it now.

I think the neighbors would probably call the cops if my target was a human silhouette.

I have just a couple knives right now (working on building a few more). Top one is the first knife shaped object I made from 1/4" mild steel barstock. It was nearing completion when I found the forum and found that mild steel won't harden. So, after spending bunch of time on a wood handle (which broke- not fit for a thrower) and putting the rustic patina on it, it was doomed to be thrown. Surprisingly enough, the tip holds up pretty well and keeps an edge that's good enough to stick. The knife on the bottom is a 10" Colt thrower from the sporting goods store. Not bad for $15, as it holds up very well and is better balanced for throwing

Adding rounds to it is not a bad idea. I'll have to do some scavenging.
Click to expand...

I have not much knowledge in steel works but i heard that a throwing knive's steel need not be very hard. Mine is from a 420 stainless steel grade and it bend a little bit before... I even bend the tip to a 90 degree angle before but its soft enough for me to bend it back using a set of pliers. Maybe a 440 stainless steel might be ideal i guess....

You just started on knife throwing right judging by the way it sticked on the target?
 
Kevin the grey said:
Atomsphere ? What do you have against big blue men ? I am sure the blue man group is hunting for you now . L:O:L
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small blue men actually!:D I saw it at a webby so i just wanted to try it out. But i wouldn't recommend this board to others as the wood seems a bit brittle like for example, when i dropped it, there is a huge crack across the back of the board. I rather go to Home Depot to buy a huge piece of soft wood to bring to my apartment. Wonder if the bus driver will allow me to board his bus with it or not:rolleyes:

If i have a chance, i'll take a picture of the dead tree i practice in the woods. (please note that i didn't kill the tree, it was dead when it first saw me:cool:)

i've edited the link to my picture so when you click it, it will open another window showing an enlarged picture and clearly showing the abuse, so far. :D

 
Yeah, I am relatively new to throwing. I've been doing it for a few months, on and off. I don't know if there is really a right and wrong way to throw, as I haven't seen others throw. My motion is basically just like throwing a baseball- I throw it pretty hard. I get 1 1/2 rotations at about 25'.

Yeah, the second one feels pretty well balanced. My homemade beater on the other hand is a bit blade heavy.
 
Sandness , if you are doing 25 foot shots you are on the right track . R:Ellis gave an excellent idea on how to extend the life of your target . It looks great as well . I,m afraid I,m an old stumper myself . I just slap the stump of a tree on a tri-pod . Not much to look at but it sure is fun . (Kinda like me ! ) L:O:L

R:Ellis is it hard to super-impose images ? Funny thing is the compact disk my images are on won,t show them on the puter . It keeps telling me I need 24 bit true color . When I go get the images myself off the compact disk using " File " I can see the images just fine I just can,t work on them . I am using an Olympus F:E: 100 which is a lot of fun . I would like to do some cropping and Impose myself on others . L:O:L
 
sandness said:
Yeah, I am relatively new to throwing. I've been doing it for a few months, on and off. I don't know if there is really a right and wrong way to throw, as I haven't seen others throw. My motion is basically just like throwing a baseball- I throw it pretty hard. I get 1 1/2 rotations at about 25'.

Yeah, the second one feels pretty well balanced. My homemade beater on the other hand is a bit blade heavy.
Click to expand...

I really liked the 2nd one. Looks like its made to throw.

Keep practicing my friend. There is a few times when i was so frustrated with knife throwing i felt like almost giving up. Then I started experimenting with different grips, distance and technique till i finally got it (current stick ratio is 80%-90%)

My advice, throw consistantly and the distance of the point of release to the target must be the same from your hand(not really your body distance to the target, its your hand distance to the target).

You can throw with your body not moving at all or doing a simple follow through, but the point of release distance must be the same.(from your hand) Try throwing at a distance you are comfortable with and try throwing while leaning forward after a throw. (kindda like a body follow through) you will knowtise the handle starts to point down after a stick(indicating you are a little too near). Now at the same spot, don't lean forward after a throw and try not to move your body forward, you'll knowtise the knife will have a perfect stick or the handle will be pointing up a bit. (a little adjustment can affect the throw tremendously)

I usually throw without my body moving at all. But if the knife sticks on the target and it indicates that i am throwing a bit far, i'll lean forward a bit for the next throw..

Your grip must be firm, but relexed. (very hard to discribe this) You do not need to grip the handle hard or throw very hard to get a stick. I knowtised that for my grip, my index finger needs to hold the handle a little more firm then the others. If your knife's tip is sharp and it has a good weight on it, then it'll stick well on a nice target.

Look where you want to hit,(where you look it where your knife wants to go) i usually hold the knife directly above my head when preparing for a throw(slightly to the right of your head if you are a right hander) than to hold it just outside my shoulder. Maybe its just my preference for holding it that way. Also follow through (hand motion) is critical for consistancy.

And lastly, don't throw longer than 1 1/2hours a day. After that, you tend to get tired and it could be potentially dangerous and when it starts missing, frustration might set in and a person could potentially get a habbit of throwing it wrongly


Also you can refer to this webby http://www.knifethrowing.info/index.html
This webby was my only guide when starting it

Good luck! Haf Fun!:D
 
Atomsphere those are some interesting techniques . I never thought leaning forward would make enough of a difference . Thats a very high percentage of hits . I have a long way to go before I am that good . What distances can you get that high a percentage ?

I,ll try your techniques . I,ve got to start practicing more . L:O:L
 
Half rotation is around 2.2m from the target. (80%-95% stickablility)
One rotation is around 3.5m from the target. (70%-85% stickability)
One and a half is around 4.5m from target. (didn't practice much)

rough estimate.

so the percentage posted before is a mix of the 2 distances i favor the most... accuraccy is not so good actually...

The weird thing is that underhand throw for me requires that i close in a little bit more.
 
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