[Matt Howard]

I just recently built some pels for full-force practice (longsword) and I'm hoping to improve the next design. I used all wood and built H bases with a 4" x 4" 5' tall center post screwed into the base via brackets. For the sake of cost and going easy on practice swords (blunts) I picked pine for the center post, then padded the post with a medium density closed cell foam.

Basically it works great, the base (about 3' square) provides plenty of stability and there is no damage to my practice pieces. The only issue is the center post, it is getting wrecked at a prodigious rate. After maybe 30 minutes of work it is severely gouged, nicked, and dented (despite the padding). My concern is that I'll have to replace the center post once a month or more at this rate. Any thoughts on harder wood, better padding, or a larger center post?

[Philip C. Ryan]

Maybe wrap it with several layers of heavy canvas instead of foam? Or maybe some carpet?

Or just ease up a bit on how hard you are hitting it. When I have used a pell, it was to practice accuracy of hits, and different attacks (when a training partner was not available). I never used it as a cutting target, or to see how hard I could hit. Thats what pumpkins and fun-noodles are for! heh : )

[Mike O'Hara]

Hi Matt

I found a great design on the Internet - wish I could remember who did it so I could acknowledge them.

Take a 6x6 piece of treated lumber (I used a 200mm round post). Get a moving blanket or some other medium density blanket and carefully wrap your piece of timber. Then get 3 mm plastic.Cover the enter pole with this - I taped it into place. Make sure you cover the top. Buy some nylon rope. Start at the top and start wrapping the pell. It will take two layers to make it good and solid yet non damaging to your sword. It's a good workout pulling the rope properly tight. Use stainless staples to hammer in the rope ever few wrap arounds. This will prevent it from separating with time. I set the pole in an old tire using 4 x 40 kg sacks of ready mix cement. You can roll it about but it sits very solidly.

So far, I've beaten up my pell with my steel blunt and waster and it has held together well. My blunted sparth (axe) was a bit much though

cheers

mike

[Sam Gordon Campbell]

I second motion of using more carpet.
I used coppers-log.
Maybe more flex?

[Matt Howard]

Great suggestions! Thank you guys, I've got a new Saturday afternoon project, and for reasonably in expensive. (since my extra income goes in weaponry these days).

Phillip, oh I definitely do a lot of soft target cutting too, but with my Albion Kriegsmesser there's just no sense of resistance!

[Aleksei Sosnovski]

W normally use old tires. They are cheap (actually totally free) and relatively easy on the swords. You can stack tires on your center pole (make sure that the "hole" in the center is full or the tires will move) or you can hang a tire/tires on a rope and it will make a moving good pell.