What is the best wood to use for a target?

fixer27

fixer27

Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
14,031
I had to construct a mobile throwing target with a pallet type base and a piece of normal plywood as the target, the problem is the tips of my throwers are getting bent in the plywood.

Is there a softer wood that can stand up to being outdoors and handle being used for a target?

I tried a piece of foam and that just did not work very well, the throwers just destroyed it too quickly.
 
I used cedar 2 x 4's . Glued them together side by side and made approx a 30 x 30 target...Works Great...
 
First it sounds like you need some good knives. Plywood is the worst choice for a target. Try to find some downed trees and get some good pine cross sections to mount on to a good solid frame. Plywood will flex and bounce to much, especially if you use quality throwing knives that have some weight to them.
BB
 
I agree with Dusty: Cedar is strong but not too strong.

Fixer, is your plywood store-bought MDF? If so, it may be a composite held together by really powerful glues that make it like concrete.

On the flip side, I think you'd see pine wood targets get chewed up really fast by your knives.

Cedar is softer, but not too yielding.
 
I'm a woodworker, not really a knife thrower, but please, not plywood! Plywood is designed to be a stable building material. It's made up of laminated (glued together) sheets that have their grain oriented perpendicularly to each other. It is extremely durable and difficult for a tool to penetrate.

We made some great tomahawk targets for the boy scouts by cutting cross sections of large tree trunks. All it takes is a buddy with a chain saw and some large, downed trees.......
 
Balsa wood or perhaps cork (if you can find pieces that large) glued onto a plywood or MDF board...thick enough so that any blade that penetrates won't hit the plywood.
 
Two sure balance throwers and a torpedo for me and two R&R lite throwers for my 8 year old niece.

The R&R throwers had their tips destroyed and even my sure balance throwers have tip warpage.

I think I'll try finding some cedar and tack them up on the plywood, or pine laid flat, a tree round is out unfortunately no chain saw.

My neice has quite the arm, when the wood wasn't working we used 2 liter bottles filled with water in a sort of knife throwing bowling.
 
Personally, I use a log round from an old tree we had to cut down. Its about 24 inches diameter and just as thick. (wasn't really cut to size. I just stole it off the wood pile.) Works great for hawks and knifes. I need to shave off about 2 inches from the front though. Its a little used now.

I've also heard of guys using pine 2X4's. Just like the cedar board target suggested above. But the pine would be cheaper I think.
 
I like the oak trunk section I use for a target.
pretty much any straight grained wood will work. (not hedge/osage orange)
building up a target out of 2x stock is also OK - cut the pieces at least 6" long, and glue them together so you're looking at all the end grain. (think about a butcher block)
end grain lets the axe head/knife point to slide between fibers rather than cutting into them. It also tends to close back up mostly when you pull the steel back out, so you're not constantly chipping pieces out of it.

good luck!
 
I just nailed a couple of 2X12 boards together. Works just fine for me.

New_Target_by_angusman219.jpg
 
partical board or layerd and taped cardboard. it doesnt last long, but is cheap and wont mess up your blades
 
I can get my hands on rounds. What should I use as a stand? I was thinking of an easel type thing...

My knives should be here in a couple days. ...And so it begins.
 
try this one:
target_blocks_yury_big.jpg


built by Yuri Ershov (Fedin Knife Throwing), made of wooden cubical chuncks nailed into one.
 
I just bought a bunch of firewood rounds, four inches thick and about 2.5 feet in diameter. Got I think six for $20, set em up in the back yard against a berm, and got medieval on 'em.

I wound up leaning them against the berm and backed it up with a small firewood round... it's holding well.

Today was my first day throwing knives so I pretty much suck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top