As many of you know, I love to shoot just about anything, from automatic weapons to a bow and arrow. I also love working with my hands and being self-reliant. You could stick me out in the middle of nowhere in the mountains by myself and I would be totally happy! If I can make something or fix something myself, then there is no use in wasting money when I don’t have to.
So in this post I will be showing a target dueling tree that I made. I will also mention what tools and equipment I use as well. I won’t however give out specific dimensions and degrees of angle. I have yet to see a design quite like mine so a patent may be applied for in the future. They may not look like much but I put a lot of work, blood and sweat in to each and every one I make. A local gun shop sells these in their store, so I’ve made quite a few of them. It keeps me busy and I enjoy welding so it's a win-win for everyone!
Here is a picture of some paddles I painted last night. Now some of you might be wondering, "Bandit, why bother with painting them so purdy?" That is an excellent question and I'm glad you asked! I paint every piece of metal with Rustoleum paint for a couple of reasons. Obviously one reason is to keep it from rusting, the other is that it's aesthetically pleasing in the store and most importantly, my father always told me that if you're going to do something, do it right the first time and be proud of your work.
Yes, I know it's overkill but still... it looks purdy, don't it?
I never claimed to be a painter
You don't want to know how much time and work I put in to these, I basically give them away. The paddles pictured above are AR500 1/4" thick and 6" wide targets. I will do a separate post on shooting steel targets soon.
I use this Miller MIG machine to tack weld everything together first.
75/25 Oxygen and Argon gas
Here's my bombs, Becca :)
I use my oxy and acetylene set up sometimes to pre heat or bend steel.
This is my stick welder that glues everything together real good. I made the cart it's on also.
This is 1/4" thick wall DOM pivot tube that I use to put the paddles in.
This is an old band saw that I use to cut some steel with.
This is the very first one that I made. I make them a little different now.
When I was a patrol sergeant, I had a very loyal and dedicated squad. This picture is what I wrote on the bottom of the base plate that is attached to a tree I made him. To this day they still call me "Sarge" :(
A welding cart similar to this costs 150 bucks at my local welding shop. I bought a hand truck at Harbor Freight for like 60 bucks and used scrap metal to make this one :)
What can I say, I like to grind :)
These are very valuable to welders. There's actually one more that didn't make the photo shoot, it was mounted on a chopping base.
Here is a picture of the center of the tree. At this stage, I was pre fitting the tubes and spot welding them in place.
Another must have for welders, good gloves and clothing. I have actually caught myself on fire before.
Tightly wound you say, 
Anal a bit much?
OCD?
My father and I also made this rolling cabinet for my tool chest, crafty we are.
Here is a short video of me shooting one of my trees.
I hope you enjoyed taking a little tour in to my world of hobbies and looking at some of my stuff lol. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I plan on making a post about shooting steel targets soon just fyi.
All photos in this post are mine, all mine!