How to make a dummy?

[Beowulfman6]

There have been some threads on this before, and I did get some ideas from them, but I wanted to see if anyone had made an epee training dummy and could share some ideas about how to do so. I'm sure I could rig something up eisily enough- but I want to make a good quality one that could stand up to club use (I also don't want to spend $300 for one of the off the shelf ones).

My current method of making a dummy consists of grabing a freshman fencer and giving them a mask, jacket, and epee- but for some reason they are losing interest in this activitiy.

[HDG]

Take a regular person and give them a lobotomy...

[Beowulfman6]

Originally Posted by HDG

Take a regular person and give them a lobotomy...

Or, alternatively take a regular fencer and give them a saber- the effect is the same.

Seriously though- any advice?

[noodle]

http://www.fencing.net/forums/search.php?searchid=8672

[Beowulfman6]

I suck at using the search function- I can never find what I'm looking for. Thanks noodle- I was sure there must have been some good threads on this before but couldn't find them.

I think I'll just take some of the Ideas I find here and experiment.

[mrbiggs]

A search for "dummy"?

How counterintuitive!

[Beowulfman6]

Originally Posted by mrbiggs

A search for "dummy"?

How counterintuitive!

Yeah, I know I tried "epee dummy," "dummy arm," "training dummy," and in all likelyhood "dumy." Making sure things are spelled right realy helps when using the search thing- so I guess I have found a fencing dummy, and the dummy is me.

[jfarmer]

Originally Posted by noodle

http://www.fencing.net/forums/search.php?searchid=8672

Funny, I just tried this link and it tells me that it couldn't find anything...

John Farmer
Coach, Oak Ridge Fencers Club

[noodle]

Originally Posted by jfarmer

Funny, I just tried this link and it tells me that it couldn't find anything...

John Farmer
Coach, Oak Ridge Fencers Club

searches probably clear after a few days.
use advanced search to search thread titles only for the word "dummy"

[TrainingDummy]

Originally Posted by noodle

searches probably clear after a few days.
use advanced search to search thread titles only for the word "dummy"

Come on down to Austin, I'm a "U"!

[Craig]

Originally Posted by noodle

searches probably clear after a few days.
use advanced search to search thread titles only for the word "dummy"

Noodle,

Could you get that a compress the thread to the relevant info and then we can put it in the main content area as an article?

Craig

[noodle]

Originally Posted by Craig

Noodle,

Could you get that a compress the thread to the relevant info and then we can put it in the main content area as an article?

Craig

i'll see what i can do once i get a free minute

[shlepzig]

try this thread

Or this thread

Almost all make mention of the Volkmann model from the big book of armory. Probably should buy that and start there, it's a wise investment.

Shlep

Not this one (Bad vampire fiction yielded by a google search).

[crquack]

I'm sure I could rig something up eisily enough- but I want to make a good quality one that could stand up to club use (I also don't want to spend $300 for one of the off the shelf ones).

This is what I bought (not having the time or inclination to make things from bits of wood etc.): MARTIALARM Martial Arts Training MACHINE - Unique Wooden Dummy for wing chun kung fu and all martial arts

It works well for angled attacks - left, right, up or down. It also works for progressive attacks (hit the arm and if fail, hit the pad). You can disengage around it. You can do beats on it. You can do common or garden straight hits on the pad if you mark out a small area with duct tape. I have grown to like it and prefer it to the ball on a stick or string.

The only thing is, when I bought it it was less than $200. I see they have increased the price considerably. Still, if you consider that time is money...

[OROD]

Originally Posted by Beowulfman6

My current method of making a dummy consists of grabing a freshman fencer and giving them a mask, jacket, and epee..

Yes, that'll make a dummy alright. Now, if you wanted to make a good fencer, hand him a foil.

.

[Beowulfman6]

Originally Posted by crquack

This is what I bought (not having the time or inclination to make things from bits of wood etc.): MARTIALARM Martial Arts Training MACHINE - Unique Wooden Dummy for wing chun kung fu and all martial arts

It works well for angled attacks - left, right, up or down. It also works for progressive attacks (hit the arm and if fail, hit the pad). You can disengage around it. You can do beats on it. You can do common or garden straight hits on the pad if you mark out a small area with duct tape. I have grown to like it and prefer it to the ball on a stick or string.

The only thing is, when I bought it it was less than $200. I see they have increased the price considerably. Still, if you consider that time is money...

How do you attach the weapon- if it wasn't so expensive it would probably work prety good.

[crquack]

How do you attach the weapon- if it wasn't so expensive it would probably work prety good.

I don't. I sort of imagine it. I treat the red bent pole as an arm with a hand on the end of it and try to hit it at various angles. Or I treat the bit of the arm sticking up as a "piece" of a weapon and beat it or try to hit over the top of it. One needs some imagination, granted. The advantages of this particular piece of equipment is that it approximates the size, position, consistency and to some extent mobility of a human arm (so hits feel like real hits).

I have been thinking ot taping something to the end of the arm but have not quite got around to it.

[jjefferies]

Making a dummy isn't difficult. Getting the webcam to record it so you can see it wasted way too much time.

The difficult part is how to mount the arm (and possibly leg). I started with a cat clawing post made from a cardboard concrete form some two feet in diameter. The outside had carpeting glued to it for cat pleasures of clawing and climbing. To this I added a single board (4"x24"x1") held to the post by bungee cords. To this post I mounted an "L" shaped bracket whacked off of a piece of angle iron. Maybe two inches long and mounted to the board by bolts on one side of the angle iron. To this I attached a 2"x2"x24" long stick with a 1/2" bolt hole at each end. One end was bolted to the angle iron and the other to another stick 2"x2"x18". This final stick which serves as the dummy's forearm has another piece of the angle iron bolted to it with one side drilled to accept an epee blade tang. Put the tang through an old guard, through the hole in the final piece of angle iron, maybe a spring and then a nut. Tighten to please. The stick arm and forearm are wrapped in foam rubber and finally leather glued around the outside. And over the board mounted to the cat clawing post I put foam rubber and a ripped up pair of old leather motorcycle pants.

The cat post has some 50 lbs of NEW cat litter in a sack in it for stability. Leather for the arm and forearm can be had as scraps from leather outlets (you will have to glue it all on in a sort of collage).

A leg can also be added in much the same manner for epeeists.

So far I've worn out one guard learning to flick around and over it. Appropriate epee blades have at times been a problem. I brazed one broken blade back together (actually added a bit to make it stronger). But I've found the occasional $10-$20 piece of junk that works too. The blades will eventually break. The other parts haven't yet.

BTW, it is extremely theraputic to take out your frustrations on the dummy. One might even be able to learn something this way.

[Aqua_volans]

Get a multiple blue compressed foam boards and stick them together. Make sure the foam is dense enough, i cannot emphasize this enough as getting a foam board that's of insufficient strength means that your dummy will fall apart with just on hit. Stick the boards together with EPOXY, NOTHING ELSE. This piece should be the torso so cut to size. Then 2 similar pieces out of your block, this would be the arms.For the head repeat the earlier procedure, the shape should be such that a mask can hold on to it. make a stand out from whatever you can find. doesn't matter, unless if you're and epeeist. After that, slap on a mask and jacket and your dummy should be able to last for a few years unless if you ditch your blade for a sledgehammer.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I think most people get confused when making the weapon holding part of the dummy.

I wont tell you how, but I'll give you a few hints.

A bloody strong spring.
Two washers.
Plenty of tension.