The following bow stand design and pictures offered here are without restriction.  The purpose is to share with the archery community the results of our research.  The following pictures were taken on Saturday, April 29, 2000 with a Sony Digital Movie Camera.  The stand was rotated around to achieve the best lighting.  Photo credits go to Kathy Miller.
   This stand design is one of the strongest and stable that I have seen.  I have been making this stand with little variance for the past 8 years.  We sold matts and stands at the 1998 NAA JOAD Nationals and many people also took the stands.  Over 40 we sold that weekend with some clubs taking as many as 8-10.
   The stand folds up for storage and is secured to itself by the 5 1/2" carriage bolts.  The rigidness of the stand is achieved by the two 1/2" plywood sheets.   Below are the materials needed for construction.

4 - 8' 2"X4" pieces of lumber (standard construction grade pine)
1 - 12"X30"X1/2" plywood
1 - 12"X33"X1/2" plywood
4 - 3 1/2" X 1/4" carriage bolts
2 - 5 1/2" X 1/4" carriage bolts
6 - 1/4" nuts or wingnuts
12- 4" deck screws
12- 2" deck screws

The lumber is cut as follows: (Note:  American 2" X 4" lumber generally measures 1 3/4" X 3 1/2"...this is important)
     Two of the 8' lumber pieces are cut into two, one 60" and 36".  The 60" pieces are used for the front legs and the 36" piece is used for the support arms for the matt.
     The other two 8' pieces are cut to produce two 61" pieces.  The surplus is cut to 27" for crosspieces for the top and bottom of the front legs.  There will be two 8" pieces to discard.

In order for the pieces to come together and form the pictured stand it is necessary to drill the holes for the bolts at strategic locations on the front and rear legs.

Bottom                                                                                                                                      Top

Crosspieces                                                           Front
               -------------  36"  -------------

varies >o                                                               o <  9.5"

     The rear hole in the crosspieces varies and can be adjusted to achieve the desired angle of the stand.  The crosspiece should be bolted so that it forms a 90 degree angle to the front leg.  For different diameter target buttresses drill additional holes 1.5" above and below the 27.00" hole on the 60" leg.  Then drill additional holes in the rear leg and the rear crosspiece hole area.  This allows a variance so that the center of the buttress is the FITA regulation height above the ground.  The 27" hole position is for a 50" Whitetail Industries Foam Matt.
     You will notice the matt is tied on the front legs.  By using standard clothesline rope and two separate pieces you can secure the matt to the stand.  The tie down rope is attached to the rear plywood piece as shown.
     The rigidity of the stand comes from the plywood pieces.  If you are wary of having a large piece of plywood below the target you can replace it with triangular pieces on the lower front legs and bottom crosspiece.
     When you are ready to store the stand, remove the front leg 5.5" carriage bolts, fold the front legs inside the rear assembly.  The crosspieces pivot up vertically and another hole can be drilled through front cross piece hole and through the rear and front legs and the 5.5" bolt inserted.  This prevents the stand from opening up and facilitates handling problems.  This is an option.