So, has anybody ever tried making a portable "target" for swinging a sledgehammer at? At my parents place down at the coast, I could just bury an old tire halfway in the ground and swing at that, but living in an apartment in the city, there is nowhere to do something like that. What I need is something I can construct, and then haul to a park or somewhere and then beat the shit out of with a sledgehammer.
I thought about something like this: Take one tire, lay it down flat, then bolt some 4x4 wood blocks inside it. Then, cut another old tire in half with a sawzall, and pinch one tire-half inside the other "base" tire (with the tread side facing up) and bolt the ends to the 4x4 wood blocks. Anybody got a better idea?
One issue is creating something that doesn't have too much "bounce" to it... I don't want to hit the damn thing with the sledgehammer and have the hammer go flying backwards over my head. :-)
I guess if I were in a dirt field somewhere I could do that, but generally speaking hitting the ground is out, because it would f$@k up the (grass | cement | asphalt | whatever) there. Plus it wouldn't feel natural to swing all the way to the ground. It seems more natural to hit something that's a foot or so off the ground.
I was trying to figure a way to make one myself. I am testing for the Fire Dept and am doing workouts that are actual part of the job. I have an old tire and a bunch of wood...let me know what you come up with that works
Dude, just lay a tire flat on its side and whack the sides of the tire, preferably a truck tire that fits in the trunk of your car. Just roll it to where you work out.
Ashetarov: I thought about that, but I think hitting something that solid with a sledgehammer would break my wrist. :-) Something with a little "give" to it would be nice.
I guess I could use an axe instead of a sledgehammer, but a sledgehammer is what I have now. Not too mention, I don't have a ready source of cut up pieces of firewood available... Ideally I want to build something that's portable, has some - but not too much - give, and is reasonably durable.
What might work would be to cut a section out of a tire, and just bolt it to a piece of firewood or a short section of 6x6 or 8x8 post. The tire would (hopefully) provide enough shock absorbtion to allow using a sledgehammer.
Dude, just lay a tire flat on its side and whack the sides of the tire,
I tried that once and it caused too much "bounce" for the sledge. That is, if I swung at it hard, the darn hammer nearly went flying over my head on the way back up. Maybe a different kind of tire would work though. I'll check on that.
preferably a truck tire that fits in the trunk of your car.
I'm actually thinking about buying a truck just (mainly) for doing shit like this. If I can find an old Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10 for < $1000 that actually runs (even if poorly) I might buy it so I'll have a way to haul stuff around. I'm kinda getting tired of people asking me why I have an 8# sledgehammer in my backseat anyway. :-)
I actually searched earlier for a 25# sledge-hammer and couldn't find one for sale. I found places selling 20# ones, but not a 25#'er. Anybody happen to know where a 25# sledge can be found?
I take a bunch of old magazines that I dont read any more and interlace the pages so that the magazine bindings alternate (one binding is facing east, one is facing west, and nake a stack approximately 20 inches high and then duct tape the shit out of it. I have had my current one for a year and probably use it one to 2 times per week and it lasts as good as the energizer bunny!