How to make a cutting post in about 20 minutes

So...I finally got that cutting stand done and it was super simple...assuming you have screws and a power drill laying around. But anyway. I thought I'd put this out here for the "beginners" or as something to go off of for others needing insight on making a stand. Also, this is simple to recreate multiple posts this way and can have a small army of posts ready for you to do more then one cut off in a single set.

So....Pictures of my finished product then I'll show you the steps and reference the pictures.








Ok, so as you can see its a 2x4, a wooden pole, and, I believe, 5 screws.

First you need to make the base



Step one

Cut the 2x 4 up into: two pieces about a foot and a half long ,and 3 two inch by two inch squares.

Step two

Place the two foot and a half long pieces (or similar length ones) perpendicular in the center of each other and drill two holes (with a drill bit) diagonally in the corners of where the two pieces overlap (refer to picture).

Step three

Find the center of the two inch blocks and line them up with the ends of two foot long piece that you wish to not be in contact with the ground, and place them on the side in which they lay flush with the other 2 foot piece with the ground.
(IN OTHER WORDS....make a cross and make sure that you can lay it one way with 3 points of contact with the ground (the 2 foot piece counting as one point entirely))

Drill through both of the centers of the 2 inch square through to the 2 foot block.

Step four

Find the center of the 2 foot block that you drilled through from the 2 inch blocks and ON THE OPPOSITE side line the center of the 2 inch block up with the 2 foot block and drill a small hole as far through both sides of the overlapping 2 foot block (don't worry if the hole doesn't go all the way through to the other side for either) then drill two holes diagonally through the 2 inch block through the first bit of the 2 foot block.

Set it aside as you need to complete the next few steps before proceeding onto the rest of the base.

This is where your own personal needs come into play.

I used ANOTHER 2x2 inch square for the top's surface but ended up finding it was rather hard to balance larger containers on it. You can use whatever size you want, but I intended it to be small so that way I minimized the area that I could hit should I go through the target at the wrong angle.

Step Six

Cut whatever size off of the 2x4 you need that you wish to be the surface to place your targets on.

Step Seven

Find the center of the board you cut and secure it through to the wooden post with a screw.



Now you have the top finished.

Step Eight

Find a tool that you can make a decent size hole with and find the bit or whatever is needed to make the hole the size of the pole in which you used (making it bigger is even better, trust me....I'll explain) and drill both 2 foot long blocks to the size you need for the pole to easily slide through. TEST IT. Make sure it fits. You can't really fix it past this point. Wiggle room is alright, having to force it into the hole is bad.

Step Nine

After your test, remove the pole and top block and Fill in the holes you drilled with screws to secure the blocks together.

You should now have a sturdy base and your top ready to be placed in when your ready to cut.





The reason it is good to have the hole a little bigger then normal is because when your cutting, the water will spill all over the stand, the wood then absorbs it, and grows into the spacing in the hole you made. This grips onto the pool making sure it won't go anywhere. NOW this also means that once your finished cutting your going to have to wait a decent 10 minutes for the water to dry before you can try to twist it out of the hole so you can store it.

I did a recent cutting session with this stand, my first one ever. And after watching some of Daio's one handed cutting videos about 5 minutes before....well...Picture of my first target....



So...Not only was I able to make 5 cuts on that one jug, all of those cuts, except the last one (the bottom didn't move but I don't feel right counting that one) were silent cuts. I then proceeded to do the same type of cutting for the next 3 jugs before I started onto water bottles in which I managed to still do 2 silent cuts on. Wish I had video....but I just wanted to be out in the peace and quiet and use my new stand. Anyway. So there you have it. My cutting stand, how to make it, and a bit about my cutting as of recently.


And yes for all the observant ones, it is pink.