Making a Fencing Target

    Hey there guys this is me again. Last week during my fencing drills at home, I actually broke my fencing target. So I decided to make a new one. It's actually quite easy and I figured if some of you guys are going to be stuck at home during the quarantine, you might actually learn how to make your own. 

Let me start, by first showing you guys my original design and by engineering flaws, and why it broke. Then I will show you my new design.

 

Here is the side view of my Fencing Target 1.0. As you see, I opted for a wide rectangular base in order to provide stability and distribute the weight along the support planks. The base itself functions very well and was study but it was a bit wide and did not allow me to get close to my target in order to practice close distance touches. In addition to this, the design was flawed since there is a single wooden plank that supports the entire target. This is the plank that is connected to the base (marked with the black tape) and this is the very spot where the wood cracked.

I mean it makes total sense, since in fencing, well at least in foil, you apply all your force through the tiny tip of your blade, as you drive your foil straight into your target, causing all the tension in the bottom plank. I thought that by adding the slanted piece on the back and by connecting it to a stopper, effectively making a small triangle, I would provide enough support, and this worked for a few months, but after a while, the wood just gave out. 

So then one day I did an advance lunge, I hit the target and then I heard the wood snap, and I knew I needed to refine the underline architecture of my fencing target.

So I did the only sensible thing a software developer can do, I video called my buddies (whom are mostly mechanical engineers) and asked them for some advice and a little help to create the new Fencing target 2.0.  The main thing that my friends told me, is that triangles are the foundation of society and that I needed to maintain a triangular structure as my target support in order to provide a dense and rigid base.

I used a simple stick man skeleton, with a small plank for the shoulder, and increasingly smaller planks spaced down to recreate the rib cages and general trunk shape. 

Later I will be adding a more detailed youtube video in my channel in case you guys are interested. I will go more into detail in regards to the building and design process. So this is what it looked like at the end: 

And a video to "Stress test it": 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxUr1bunfLA&t=1s

Well here is a bonus pic of the whole engineering process in case you made it this far. 
Remember to always have fun, even when you are designing your fencing target. And if you are a little kid, ask your parents with help if you plan to make a target like this yourself.