Suggestions for a throwing axe target

Mimic Knife & Tool

Mimic Knife & Tool

The super part time maker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 15, 2021
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I’m wanting to build a throwing axe target. Has anyone here ever built one? Any suggestions for a stout build that will last?

I’m thinking cut up 2x4s and/or 4x4s into 4 to 6 inch lengths and join them side by side with cut side out toward the thrower… making a 24”to 36” square. Hopefully you can imaging what I’m talking about. Thoughts?
 
If you're not dead set on having one of exact dimensions, you could stop for a visit to your local tree guy. Just ask for a stump cutoff from a spruce or other soft wood. I know whenever someone stops to my place for something of that nature I'm happy to let them take whatever they want (especially the stuff no good for lumber or firewood). Then just build a frame to suit.
 
Unused targets last the longest. I just put up cheap boards and replace.
 
I use stump cut-offs personally. Hang it from a tree with a mooring line and eye screws. Get it somewhere between 5-7in thick, wrap with wire and use fence staples to keep it tight. This will keep it from splitting when its expanding and shrinking due to water. Now this works best if you are not moving the target. If you want something mobile then id go with 2x4's. Also the bigger the target the better, the 2 peices im currently using are both around 35" across. But try and not aim for the center or pith of the round, this area gets chewed up very quickly and flakes out much faster then the rest of it. And i also agree with the use of pine. I have a white pine round and an oak round and the oak round doesnt capture a thrown item like pine does.
 
My favorite axe target is Palm Tree rounds. I have a bunch that are about a foot thick and maybe about 20" across. I stack them up, the top one is on edge with the end grain as the target with a couple of 2 by 4 scraps nailed around to frame it in place. Palm Tree is very fibrous and the blades sink in between the fibers and get held in place like a dart that hits a boar bristle dartboard. It soaks up a lot of the impact, it's very forgiving on sticking, and if you blow a shot the axe doesn't bounce as far. Though not as durable as a harder wood, the fibers can take a surprising amount of punishment since they try to part away from the blade. Once a side is too torn up, I turn it around. When both faces are torn up, the round becomes a support and a fresh one from the stack goes on top.
 
I would use a round of a hard splitting wood like London plane, elm, black locust or even black cottonwood. Anything with a coarse intertwined grain will resist splitting. I’ve seen some white pine that was pretty tough for a conifer.
 
DrubieG said:
I’m wanting to build a throwing axe target. Has anyone here ever built one? Any suggestions for a stout build that will last?

I’m thinking cut up 2x4s and/or 4x4s into 4 to 6 inch lengths and join them side by side with cut side out toward the thrower… making a 24”to 36” square. Hopefully you can imaging what I’m talking about. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
This is the setup I'd recommend to anyone that doesn't have a source for full sized rounds handy. It had the added benefits that you can make it as large as you want and you can replace the worn out sections as needed. Give it a stout plywood backing and screw 2x4s around the edges and you can just pop out and replace.
 
I make them out of end grain 2x4, usually from scavenged timber, so basically free apart from glue and screws.
My whole throwing range was built from scavenged timber and odds and ends.
The front door to it was old fence panels and some scrap reed screen.
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Nice! I’m making one similar with scrap wood as we speak
 
veeteetee said:
This is what I´ve been using for the last 10+ years:
DSCN0239.jpg

The actual target is a spruce stump, attached with screws to a frame made of 2"x4"s. The target has been out all year round, replaced once and now the frame needs to be rebuilt due to rot.
Click to expand...
Suspending a bucked off bit of tree round like this is a perfect axe target. Just don't use your knives on it, without adding some thick cork board or something similar overtop.
 
Been using a thick cookie for the past few months for both axes and boker magnum ziel II knives and i havent had a problem. Only thing is the pith is chipped out.
 
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