Build a Butt

[GrahameA]

Hi All

To cut a long story short I needed to build a new target butt.

The specs were as follows:

1.Not cost the earth
2.Be able to stop arrows from both longbows and recurves
3.Fit into the car
4.Be light enough to carry around

The dimensions of the car boot basically decided that the at largest the butt could be was 2' square.

After a bit of investigation I decided to go with a timber frame filled with closed cell foam.

A visit to my local rubber supplier convinced me that req 1 was going to greatly broken if I went with new stuff.

A flash of inspsiration and it was off to Reverse Garbage in West End, Brisbane. There I managed to get a big bag of closed cell foam off cuts for $25.

http://www.reversegarbage.com.au/

At that stage the intention was to make a frame and stuff it full of offcuts. However when I got home that the offcuts were in fact long lengths 1" to 3" wide. This changed the plans slightly.

Step 1

Attacked the remnants timber pile and found enough timber to make a 2' square frame with sides 300mm deep.

Step 2

I had some shadecloth and I attached a triple layer of this to one face .

Step 3

Flipped the frame over and then started rolling the foam into a big coil



This photo shows the frame with two layers of the foam coiled and stacked into the centre. Smaller coils and pieces were used to pack out the corners.

Step 3

Just keep coiling it up, stuffing it in and plugging the corners.



Step 4

With the frame stuffed full of foam It was time to fit a cover over the top face. This time I went with four layers of shadecloth.

Note a couple of things. The foam sits proud of the frame sho that some compression will ocur when the shade cloth is fitted. When you fit the shadecloth stretch it tight. Just like fitting canvas to frame to do a painting.





This is what the finished product looks like.

Now I have a target butt that I can carry easily and should last well.

Total Cost - $25:00

Time to build

Well I started on it at 5pm and it now 8:20pm and I managed to squeeze dinner in the middle.

[erron]

Brilliant, Grahame! Beats the heck out of a lot of the designs I’ve seen to date…

thanks,

Erron

[CameronPotter]

How will the shade cloth hold up? Won't it soon be shot to pieces?

Looks like a nice design though.

Cam

[Buford]

I've seen a similar design but without the need for the timber box.
It's the same coil/ roll of foam compressed/ held together with seat belt webbing around the outside and an extra loop for a handle.
It has a diameter of about 1m, is about 20cm thick and is light enough to be carried with one hand. same theory as mine except my butt is compressed with ratchet straps from each end.
I witnessed it pull up a carbon traveling at about 300fps from 10 yards. good bit of gear.

[coach]

The coils are too loose and I doubt it will last . The foam needs to be compressed . Just My opinion

[GrahameA]

Hi All

Cam

I used shadecloth on my preceding and it went several years.

We use it on the targets at my club and they go 6 months without problems. Then all you do is tack another sheet over the front.

Originally I expected to get foam that was in small sections and all I was going to do was stuff the box full of it. When I found it was a long offcut I went for the coil. There are 5 seperate coils stacked in that box.

It will be interesting to see how long it lasts. I think it should be good for a year or so.

The butts that most use are just cardboard boxes flattened and banded together. How fast they disintergrate depends on the rate we shoot arrows at them.

As for filling in general IMHO anything which will absorb the energy seems to work. Originally I was going to use Vysene - I hope that is the correct spelling - but I had trouble getting some.

Reverse Garbage had some other intersting materials but I when I saw the foam I decided that it was Christmas.

(For the Sydneysiders there is one in Sydney http://www.reversegarbage.org.au/)

WRC

The coil is a great concept, if you can get the foam at the right price. I went with the frame for a couple of reason. Ease of mounting plus I wanted something that was not going to move. We have had issues with the Sunday butts get moved by the wind - with disastrous results for some. This one is light enough to carry without being unduly affected by the South-Easters.

I have some aluminium which I intend to use for a stand for it - when I get some spare time.

I may have a go with one of coil types if I can find some foam at the right price.

I will post an update down the line as it gets used.

[GrahameA]

Good Evening Cameron

This is a photo of a but at my club.

As you can see a single layer of shadecloth and that is what it looks like after a couple of years of being shot at every weekend.

BTW - That butt is stuffed with Vysene

[piggy]

Mate that coil looks a lot like brickies expansion joint foam. I make mine out of it by cutting it into 700mm strips, and place them on the floor edge to edge so they form a flat square 700mm x 700mm than glue the next layer across these and continue to do this until i have a butt about 4" thick. I have currently shot over 200 arrows into this and still going strong. I intend to add some more layers as i scab some more brickies expansion joint foam from building sites. ( i always ask for it and take the waste pieces).
I find this to be the best butt i have made to date

[CameronPotter]

Thanks Grahame,

It lookslike it holds up fairly well!

Cam

[GrahameA]

Piggy

Could be. All I know is that it was Closed Cell, High Density and Iy appeared to the trimmings of some continuous production process.

Cam

They hold okay. The stuffing is Vysens and they just sit out in the weather week after week.

On the downside they are heavy however, they are part of a permanent range setup. That but will get a bit more fill stuffed in and a complete new sheet of shadecloth stapled across the front.

That is its maintennance for the next year.

[GrahameA]

Hello Cameron, et al.

As promised an update.

Just to get an idea of dimensions that is a 600mm FITA Target Face.

It is holding up well and has no difficulty in stopping anything we have used against it so far (that includes 55lb compound shooting thin target arrows.)

This was from 30 metres. The white fletched arrows are some experimental Kwila / Merbau shafts from Keith Forrester, VA hardwood shafts. Heavy shafts (even compared to Victorian Ash). From my 30lb Recurve.

At the moment it is just sitting on the ground ( single back support -staked) - the tripod stand is still perfected.