Topic: Target Stands for the Non-Handy ;)
So, I've tinkered with making target stands out of PVC pipe and such... I don't do a lot with wood or metal because I'm not the most handy of individuals.
So, here's a quick, adaptable, simple idea that anyone can do.
Go out and buy yourself a double-braced cymbal boom stand like you find for drum sets.
Height and angle are infinitely adjustable, and the whole thing folds down for easy transport/storage. Get a good one, and it will last forever. They're designed for crazy drummers like me that hammer their cymbals into submission. They're designed to take the impact, the shock and the tipping.
They're also very easy to adjust in terms of angles of target, arm, height, angle, etc. etc. etc.
Another bit of advice that I stole from my first whip teacher, Gery Deer:
One of the biggest problems in learning targeting with a whip is resetting targets. If you're working alone, this takes a while...You work at it, crack a number of time, and by the time you've got it consistently and are "in the groove" to the point you're really TRAINING that muscle memory, the target's long gone. Then, you have to stop what you're doing, go and put another target up, and then go back and try to recapture that "Groove" you'd just found moments before.
It can be VERY frustrating.
So, Gery's solution that I stole from him and I encourage you to steal from me, (because Gery no doubt stole it from someone too!)
Those little spring door stops, (pictured below.) Mount that on your target stand, set it up, and aim for the little rubber bit on the end.
You hit it, the target bounces a bit and makes that wonderful "PUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUH!" noise you probably found so amusing as a kid! Positive Reinforcement, and no need to reset unless the spring part of the door stop backs off the mount and goes flying away. Then, just fetch it, reattach it, and go back to work.
(I had to file out the hole in the circular base a little bit to get the threaded end of the cymbal stand through it. It now fits fairly snugly. A couple washers and nuts at the hardware store I bought the door stop at, and boom! Problem solved.)
The stand also acts as a nice whip stand, (as evidenced in the picture, carrying my entire whip load-out for a demonstration I was giving a couple weeks ago.)
Happy crackin' folks!
-D