Nick Moore | Wednesday, 16 February 2022
I’m currently making some accuracy targets for the fishing club, and they have been fun to make. The hoop diameters are the same as the WC ones, with diameters of 60, 120 and 180cm. They are made from ½” black polyethylene irrigation tubing (50m), and all have a ½” coupler to make them into a hoop. They were quite easy to attach, you just pop both ends in boiling hot water for about 30 seconds, and push the connector in. I couldn’t find any white pluming pipe, so I’ve had to cover them all in white tape.
Working out the circumference for each hoop is very easy. You multiply the diameter by π, and whichever value this comes to, is the length you need to cut off. The connectors have a small spacer in the middle which would offset the rings, so I cut off 20mm off one side to make sure the diameters end up correct.
Transportation is going to be the biggest issue, as the largest ring is prone to twisting if it isn’t placed down carefully. To ensure that all the rings stay in shape, I made a very simple wooden frame for them out of thin pine. The two lengths were cut to 180cm and they were half lapped to ensure strength and collapsibility for transportation. Holes were then drilled in the wood to allow the rings to be tied to the frame at the correct distances. I marked the hoop diameters and subtracted half the tubing diameter to guarantee that the hoops would end up at the correct position. I still need to stain the wood to make it sort of weather resistant (as it’ll be thrown in the water), and then I’ll lacquer afterwards.
I’ve only made one target so far (I just need to finish the taping on the larger hoop) and they will be finished. I hope they float well!
Tight Lines.