[Article] Ramp building tips

[ruralhero]

Yeah I know there's been posts on this type of thing before, but I was writing an article on it for our site anyways, so I thought I'd post it here, mite be helpful to someone

Following our effort to construct a working quarterpipe, which was quite successful I might add, I thought I'd jot down a few tips to any fellow amateur ramp-builders out there wanting to build the same.

1) There's no need to spend much. Sure an expensive ramp will be good, but is it really worth the money if there's only going to be you and your mates using it? I'd suggest leaving the great expense to the councils or private investors wanting to build full skateparks.

2) As far a what wood to use goes, plywood is best for covering your ramps, chipboard, however attractive it may be, is generally not a good idea, as it will rot and disintegrate quickly if left outside. The same goes for mdf or any similar compound boards, and if that's not enough to put you off, with mdf you also get the added risk of cancerous dust, so take care.

3) Now on to answering that all important question - where to get the wood from? Honestly, you will need to buy very little if nothing at all. To construct frames, palettes seem to work brilliantly. If you go to any builders yard, or anything like an industrial site, they will throw them at you for free. To them it's waste and they have to pay for them to be removed usually. Just don't be shy about asking! 99% of the time they will say yes.
As for where to get the plywood from, we went to a merchants yard, but again, any builders yard might do.We went and asked for any offcuts of ply they could give us, and we came away with a sheet literally as big as a car. And how much did it cost us? £0, yes, absolutely nothing. I've got absolutely no idea what it was an offcut from, a wooden replica of the titanic maybe, but frankly i don't care.

4) Don't be particularly picky when you ask for offcuts though. Remember the guys giving it to you are doing you a favour, so just take whatever you're offered. Who knows, even iff you can't think of a use for it at the time, it will come in useful sometime, and its free so you can't really go wrong! When looking for ply to cover curved ramps like quarters or kickers/deathboxes, anything from 4mm - 8mm will probably be bendy enough, but if its on the thin side it may require two sheets to stop it from cracking. Anything above 8mm may be bendy enough but could require a few people to hold it in place while you screw it in. Yes if its that thick i would definitely use screws not nails as it will pull it off the frame unlike thinner boards.

5) To construct the ramp screws are usually a favourable option to nails, as they wont pull the ply away from the frame like screws will, but they aren't strictly necessary, our quarterpipe is only held together with nails and it's working fine. As to what type of nails, obviously wood nails work best, but masonry nails will also do, as long as the shaft is rounded not square, as it will split the wood otherwise.

Happy building!

[old_school_goose]

cancerous dust ha ha. sweet review people need articles like these

[cav89]

ill just add:

you should only use screws, nails tend to bend and pop out waiting for unsuspecting tyres!

also, if you leave plywood in water for a day or two it gets really soggy, and you can bend it easier, and once it dries out its as good as new...

peace

[ruralhero]

Yeah screws are far better, i guess we were just lazy when we came to build ours, no-one had an electric screwdriver and we couldn't be bothered to screw them all in by hand lol. Nice tip about the ply as well, i hadn't thought of that!

[SHARDS]

I'm nearly fully stocked for my ramp now, I've got a shed load of 2"x3" struts all approx 6ft long (midnight shopping), a few sheets of 1/4" ply that'll do for the transitions (donated by a good mate), and I just found a length of scaffolding today as I was walking the dog - so all I need now is some thick ply for the sides...Oh yes and total spent so far...£0

[ozz]

1/4 inch ply will break the first time you ride it. trust me.

[guui3dong]

Great review! Midnight shopping! HAHAHA

I built a 2ft sub-box for the bank in our local park. I was riding home one night and found all these 2x4s thrown outside on the street, someone was renovating their interior. It was obviously out for the dustman, so although I was tired as hell, I was worried it wouldn't be there the next day, so hid it nearby for collection the next day.

I guess that's another tip in itself; if you see something worth having, don't think "I'll pick it up later" coz you never know.

[gnomey55]

can't you Use ringed nails, surely they'd work just as good as screws.

[ruralhero]

quarter inch ply can be easily thick enough, it all depends on how far apart you space the slats underneath it, the futher apart the slats, the thicker ply you need. So if all you have is quarter inch thick stuff, just put the support slats a bit closer together.

[Smudge]

also, if you leave plywood in water for a day or two it gets really soggy, and you can bend it easier, and once it dries out its as good as new...

Thats a good idea, when you wet wood and shape it it drys and stays that shape pretty much. This means the ply wont be putting extra stress on the screws/nails, and pull them out. Just a word of warning tho, when wood is soaked with water it expands, when it drys it shrinks, this means if your not careful you might have gaps in your ramp.