Cheap, Light, Portable, Easy-to-Build Target Stand


ScottMac

New member
We needed a target stand up at a friend's cabin. With a little napkin scribbling, this is what we came up with.

The goal was to make something inexpensive, light, portable (i.e., folds to fit in a car trunk or small back seat), bug-resistant, fairly weatherproof, and easily repaired.

These are the materials we used, but certainly, there are a lot of potential substitutions to fit your circumstances.

7 - 2" x 2" x 36" cedar balusters
6 - 1/4" x 3" carriage bolts
6 - 1/4" wing nuts
6 - fender washers 1/4" ID x 1" OD

Some string or wire
Some wood glue
At least four 2 1/2" deck / drywall wood screws.

For tools you'll need a saw, a drill with a 1/4" drill bit, and a square (helpful but not strictly necessary)

Here's what ours looks like in operational position
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Here it is folded
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Pivot detail

To fold the stand, loosen the top bolt, remove the bottom bolt and pivot the frame. Once folded, replace the bolt you removed to the top hole to keep it in folded position, and for storage.

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Foot joint
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Assembly is easy; it took us maybe a half hour, including the head scratching.

Prep work:

Target Frame
Cut one of the balusters in half. These will be the target frame cross-members.

Stack two balusters side-by-side and drill two ¼” holes through both, near one end. We drilled ours at 4"and 8" from one end. These will be the side members of the target frame.

Verticals
Stack two balusters side-by-side and drill three ¼” holes on one end that are spaced 4", 8", and 12" from that end. These will be the target frame pivot.

Drill another ¼” hole 3/4" from the other end. All holes are drilled parallel (through the same sides). These will be the pivots on the foot pieces.

Foot Rails
Finally, stack the last two balusters and drill through both 4" and 12" from one end, and 4" from the other end. The two 4" holes will be the attachment point for the support string that stretches to central pivot bolts. The hole at 12" will be the pivot on the foot rails.

Assembly
Glue & screw the two short members to the target frame vertical members (with the two holes 4", 8"). Gluing the joint adds some additional rigidity, but is not strictly necessary.

Attach the side support rails (the verticals) to the foot rails (the hole ¾”from the end of the vertical to the hole located 12” from the front end of the foot rail) using the 3" carriage bolts, fender washers, and wing nuts.

Line up the target frame into the vertical supports such that the 4" hole of the target frame lines up with the 8" hole of the vertical, and insert the carriage bolts, fender washers, and wing nuts. This is the pivot point.
With the target frame in the operational position, the second carriage bolt goes into the 4" hole of the vertical into the 8” hole of the vertical. In the folded position, the 8" target frame hole lines up with the 4" holes of the verticals. This way, you have a secure folded unit, and it helps to prevent losing the second carriage bolt between uses.

With the verticals roughly 90 degrees to the foot rails, run a string loop through the foot holes located 4" from each end, to the central carriage bolts holding the target frame. You can use the fender washer and wing nuts to tighten the strings against the frame, or for the Boy Scouts in the crowd, tie a slip knot like the ones you were taught to tighten the tent poles against the extended ground stakes to form the backbone of the tent.

At this point, the basic stand is done. We ran a couple 2 1/2" deck screws from the back of the target frame to the front; the screw points make it easy to mount a replaceable cardboard piece to hang / tape /staple the target. With the stand folded for storage, the string can be wound around the central bolts.

We also drilled a vertical hole in the middle of the 18" cross-members so we could hang swinging targets (bowling pin, Barbasol (shaving cream) cans, water bottles, milk jugs ...). The next version we'll add a couple swing-out arms that pivot from the target frame to hang more swinging stuff

The entire stand weighs a couple pounds, folds to about 48" in length, 21"-24" width, depending on whether you put the foot rails on the inside or outside of the verticals, and as much as 3" thick, depending on the depth of the cardboard you use for target mounting.

The cedar is bug-resistant, and weather resistant and holds up well if left out in the weather. If you intend to leave it out in the rain for long periods, choose your bolts, washers, and wing nuts accordingly.

If the frame gets shot up, it's easy enough to create another one from three balusters (~$6.00)

Around Chicago, the 2x2x36" cedar balusters are about $2.00 each at the big box hardware retailers, the bolts, nuts, and screws are another dollar or two.

Some of the suggestions in this post don't match the pictures, because some revelations did not occur until after the holes were drilled
 

You can eliminate the need for the wires or cords by using a treated 2x4 on edge for the bottom supports. This lets you add a second bolt on the bottom of the verticle. This will lock it at a 90' angle and remove the need for the support lines.
 
We though about that, but decides on the string / wire because: The 2x4 would add weight, take (a little) more space and add the need for another bolt/nut to be removed and stored to collapse the stand. As it is, all it takes to pack it up is to remove one bolt and un-string the support strings.

Using the string / wire / light rope, you can adjust the verticals to compensate for slope, and it also permits you to drop the target frame to 90 degrees (making a table-top) so you can stand things on it. To do that you'd need something like a 3/16" dacron rope or 550, and sturdy cardboard or maybe thin masonite (something cheap and light) for a target backing. That was one of the reasons for offsetting the vertical mount to the foot rails to the front ... it provides more support for the "table top" configuration.

I appreciate the suggestions though ... I plan to make another couple before spring with some new bells & whistles. Maybe make a pair with a line between them for more hanging targets.
 

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