Throwing range

V

Vicks

Joined
Dec 28, 2001
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The area I use to practice with my throwing knives right now consists of a spare 4x4 fence post that was driven into the ground and then a large rectangle 3/4" thick plywood board attached to it. Protecting the down range area is a wall of the house and a fence.

The plywood has turned out to be a pretty bad choice for a target because of its compression and crossed grain.. I'm going to replace this with a more natural wood.

What suggestions do you guys have from you own experience on how I can maximize on this space. I'd like it to be versatile, for knives or tomahawks and improvised pointy things.
 
Vicks,
Back many many years ago, when I could throw a hawk, I used to stack
spruce or pine 2x4s together. I used a 3/4" dowel top and bottom to
hold them together. I tried to make it 3'x3' if I could afford the lumber. You stack them with the 4' sides together, and when set up the 2" sides are facing the thrower. We used the same type of target for buckskin contests. The target will take a lot of hits before you will need to start replacing the 2x4s. Hope this idea helps you. Steve36:)
 
What if you took the idea of the 2x4s and changed it to 4x4s? As the boards wear, rotate them. Granted, the last face may wear out very quickly due to thinning, but it may give you more bang for the buck. You can also bring less worn boards from the edges (assuming you hit the target in the center :) ) and thus put the more sturdy boards where you need them. You could make a simple frame out of 1x2s & 2x4s: insert 2x4s into ground a couple of feet (pressure treated would be best here), spaced apart the desired width of the target. Screw 1x2s at the upper & low ends of the 2x4s (front & back), and then slide the 4x4s in from the top to form the target surface. As the boards wear, pull them out/rotate them/put them back. w/ some careful measuring, you should be able to get the size target you want, and the boards will be held basically by friction & gravity. You could place another piece of 2x4 as a lower support if you didn't want a full length target, use a couple of angle braces to give it some more strength.
 
If you are going to use 2x4s or 4x4s, the best grain to hit is their END GRAIN, the butt of the studs.

Make a frame and use it to hold pieces of 2x4 or 4x4 together. If each piece is 1' long, you will need (for a 24x36 target) say 12x9 or 108 1' pieces of 2x4. As they get chewed up, you can push out the most chewed pieces, saw them off and you have a new target face. Eventually, you replace the most beaten up 1' sections.

The end grain is best because it will take the knife point equally deeply no matter which way it hits (with edge parallel or perpendicular to the ground, or anywhere in between) Throwing at the length of a stud also works,but the grain runs up and down, so a knife point hitting across the grain will chew up the target faster.
 
I like the ideas you guys have presented.. especially that one part of the target can be replaced w/o having to buy a whole new board. I hope to have a small worn spot smack in the middle of the target :p

I'm gunna institute the changes as soon as its warm again, so I'll give you guys some feedback on how it worked out then. Untill that time, keep the ideas coming.
 
If you live in the city, I guess using lumber might be the best way to go. However, if you live close to the country, talk to somebody who cuts firewood for a living, and have him get you some large end pieces of log. I always have logs delivered to my home that are 14 to 15 inches long, and the ones from the base of the tree are often 3 feet or more across. Set one of these on top of a couple of straw bales, to get the target off the ground and closer to a "natural" height, and then use more straw bales to make a back stop. Log butts will last a LONG time, even with 'hawks and axes being thrown into them, and the straw bales will protect your fence. Straw bales usually go for 2-3 dollars apiece, and the wood is negotiable with the cutter, but you could easily get a perfect target for 10 or 15 dollars, maybe less.

Another great target for knives is the dense foam archery targets sold at Wal-Mart and other places.
 
Shrake-

I had something like that as my original intention.. I know a place where I can get a couple trunk chunks. Using the hay is a great idea; I know it'll settle some of my mom's worries about her fence too.
 
I use a vertical 4' x 8' plywood sheet with an extra dense foam archery target mounted a little over half way up. The target is rated for heavy draw bows and broadheads, so it handles knives OK.
 
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