Wooden Dummy: Who's built one?

[Buddha's Hand]

I started building my own "home-made" dummy this weekend, and I was wondering if any of you have done the same...

Due to certain limitations in my appartment, I had to come up with a dummy/stand design which is sturdy, stable and doesn't require any drilling/bolting on the floor, walls or ceiling.

I should be able to finish it in about a week, and I'll post pictures for sure!

In the mean time, if you guys have interesting home-made designs to show off, please do!

[Souljah]

IRONFIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????


:D :D

hes the guy u need to talk to

[Buddha's Hand]

I did see Ironfist's website. His dummy and stand looks nice...

I prefer to punch wood than PVC though... And from what I read in his FAQ, I think he took into account the fact that his stand would hold a lighter dummy when he designed it (that or the base of his stand has to be screwed to the floor? i'm not sure)

I'm building my dummy out of 6x6s and 2x4s. with "screw-on" dummy arms (allegedly made locally) that I found at a martial arts store. The arms are basically a triangular, thick metal plate with a big spring welded on in, and a cylindrical piece of wood inserted in it.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make a leg, or if I want one at all at the moment, and whether or not I should "wrap" my dummy's body with thick rope to make it less angular...

In any case it's not gonna look anything like a traditional dummy, but at least I'll be able to practice my hand block/counterstrikes combos at home.

[Rolling Elbow]

I made a dummy based on Iron Fist's measurements.. Mine is a PVC body and leg with hard wood dowels for arms. IT serves my purpose just fine seeing as I do not need the Wing Chun measurements exactly and use my mook for 6 foot bo work. I have mounted it against the wall in my garrage and it sits on two wooden slats which are thin enough to provide some spring. You can build a floor stand based on a sheet of plywood. I have some plans for that which were sent to me but the dummy seemed to rock quite a bit so i went with a more traditional stand.

I do enjoy the dummy though...its just freakin cold right now in Ottawa so i am not out there that much.

For the body: Shave down the 4 corners if it is square. OR just use PVC, I can tell you where I got mine and all the bull i went through making mine!(got the pipe from a place just past St. Laurent) You just take a knee pad and duct tape it to the dummy and there is your surface.

[R]

Both my sifu and I had them made. His was years earlier than mine and only cost him 2 cases of beer.

I supplied materials and 75$.

How did we do it?

Found someone who was into woodworking (or a woodcraft club in my case) and showed them the specs.

Deal was they got to try something really weird and new and I got a dummy.

The arms were beech and were turned on a lathe. The body was an augmented(laminated) post that was first cut closer to round and then sanded to make it so. Leg came from a tree that one of the guys saw and cut it off/shaped it for me.

Everyone was happy all around and the dummy stil works fine > 10 years later.

Cheers, R.

[babooon87]

I have made one with my father, we didnt use any plan but here is one:

http://www.wingchun.org/text/misc/dummy.html

[Buddha's Hand]

egads!

I just discovered that my 6x6s had a tiny warning label, that says that the wood was treated with arsenic.

:eek:
:(

[IronFist]

Souljah, thanks for the recommendation :D

I did see Ironfist's website. His dummy and stand looks nice...

I prefer to punch wood than PVC though...

I actually put a small bit of thin padding around the body because even punching PVC was a bit hard. I should ad a pic of it to my site. I'm talking hitting it with near full power though. You must have one hell of a fist to prefer hitting wood :D

And from what I read in his FAQ, I think he took into account the fact that his stand would hold a lighter dummy when he designed it (that or the base of his stand has to be screwed to the floor? i'm not sure)

Nothing has to be screwed into the floor :) Uh, unless you have a wooden floor and you want to screw something into it. The stand I have works well. If I really blast it, it will move back a bit. I have it on a carpeted floor (low carpet), so that might account for a little traction. You can always put sandbags on the horizontal parts of the base to keep it weighted down.

If you build one exactly how I did, it will cost you between $225-275, including the stand. The range of price depends on how much you get the body pipe for, and what type of wood you use for the limbs.

IronFist

Guide to Wooden Dummy Construction (http://woodendummy.4dw.com)