[Archers] Fwd: I need your help

[John Atkins]

Mungo,
The straw mats you refer to I believe are Saunders mats.  Taken care of
they will last many years.  I have had some issues with them though as I
have found them to be very good at pulling off arrow tips.  I called
Saunders and asked if others had experienced the problem.  It was news
to them but the very nice operator did tell me that they wind the inner
core much tighter than the outer as they figure it will be used more.
She also said the ONLY way to loosen the inner core is to stab the outer
core thereby allowing the inner core to expand out a bit.  To revitalize
the mats one need only wet them down.  The straw swells and tightens the
mats back up.  Saunders and their distributors sell wire frames to hold
the mats which keep the matt close to the ground.  In my opinion, you
are better off building a simple wooden tripod.  The metal frames are
not that good and too expensive for what you get plus I have seen them
fall face first while loaded with a bunch of arrows.
 
My two cents worth,
 
cog

-----Original Message-----
From: archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Garth G.
Groff
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 2:09 PM
To: Archers at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [Archers] Fwd: I need your help


Lord Siegfried and Lord Christophe,

The ground where we shoot is ROCK HARD clay, and very difficult to drive
anything into. It probably was heavily compacted when the gas pipeline
that is buried there was laid. Which brings us to the second problem, in
that you aren't supposed to drive anything into the ground there (by
state law) without getting a permit. Even going down a foot would
probably get us in lots of trouble, though I'm sure the pipe is several
feet deep. Remember 'Miss Utility'?

The wooden frames (built by Lord William of Wolverhampton and his
brother John of Caer Gelynniog) are very heavy, and since we leave them
out there year-round in all weather, they are also much stronger against
wind than the constructions you describe. They may clunky, but they work
well for our purposes, and certainly could support a half dozen or more
darts without falling over. Your ideas are appreciated, but we will
stick with what we have for the foreseeable future.

I would much like to get away from the construction foam, which leaves a
nasty gunk on arrows, bolts and darts due to the friction melting the
foam to the shaft on impact. This stuff can be scraped off with a piece
of plastic, but that takes off the protective finish on the shaft as
well. Our arrows need frequent maintenance. My choice for archery (maybe
not for atlatl darts) would be the classic round straw butt about 8"
thick on a tripod stand. These could be removed for indoor storage, and
the whole thing put up in ten minutes or so. I know somebody still makes
these (I stumbled across a web site once), but I can't find them right
now. I'm planning on setting up another range, and would rather use
these.

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Target Archery Marshal

Siegfried wrote: 

A couple of thoughts for you Mungo.   Christophe already pointed out the

PVC/Fiberglass Rod method.



There are some other ways to make the targets lighter-weight and simpler

as well, plus stand up better.   For example:



1) To make them hold together better, A sheet of cardboard on either

side of your sandwich does wonders.   At the very least, on the back, to

stop blowouts.



I've seen those heavy 2x4 frames.   You don't really need them ... Some

ideas instead are:



2) Make a 2x2 4 sided frame (fancy joinery, or just deck brackets for

the corners, so that the foam either rests against the front of it (and

gets duct taped on) ... or rests inside of it, and has a cardboard

backing that holds it on.

   On the bottom two corners, put spikes (think pavilion pole spikes)

... maybe 6" long so that you can jam it into the ground.   On the back

have two hinged legs that swing out.   Jam it into the ground at a 30

degree angle, swing the legs back.  Done.



3) The original 'simple' version I was talking about.   As long as you

don't have heavy winds.   Make the 4x4 foam sandwich.  Lean it on the

ground, and take two of your 4' to 5' to 6' pavilion poles, and jam the

spikes through them from the back to front, and lean back so that poles

rest backwards.   Unless there's a strong wind that will pick them up

and fly them, it will stand surprisingly well.



But I do like COG's fiberglass pole concept.



You could also use rebar, or perhaps fiberglass electric fence poles,

which are much stronger (3/8" diameter instead of 1/4" for reflectors)



If you want it to hold more than 6 darts.



Siegfried





On 8/23/10 9:50 AM, Garth G. Groff wrote:

  

Lord Siegfried,



If you have built targets like this, I bow to your experience and

wisdom. We already use a double layer of pink or blue insulation, but

the sheets are slid into a heavy slotted frame of 2X4s, with substantial

feet at 90 degrees to the target face (I wouldn't want to try driving

large legs or pegs into the verrrrry hard ground of our range). I think

after several hits with darts, anything less substantial would fall
over.



Kind regards,





Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Target Archery Marshal

    





  


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