# skateboard ramp



## tombo (21 May 2007)

My young son has gone skateboarding mad (7 years old), i cant get into my shop because i am forever taking him to the local parks.

I'm thinking of making some simple ramps so he can practice on the driveway. Anyone ever made a ramp? how well does plywood standup if left to the elements? 

Tom


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## Chris Knight (21 May 2007)

Tom,
I find that construction ply painted with the Ronseal stuff is pretty resistant to weather.


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## DomValente (21 May 2007)

I have made three ramps for local shops, which because of the narrow pavements are not always left out.
They were painted with non slip paint and after several years have only repainted one.
They were made from marine ply, they have inch and a half edging on the slope side to prevent wheelchairs slipping off but I don't know if that's relevant for a skateboard. 

Dom


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## ByronBlack (21 May 2007)

With a skateboard ramp you'll need to use a fairly thin plywood or atleast a flexible one, because the ramp isn't so much a ramp as a cut-out pipe - i.e its concave in its nature rather than straight like a disabled access ramp.

Basically, all you need to do is make a frame out of 18mm ply with a few cross braces, jigsaw the curve you want in the ramp, and then line with the flexi/thin ply to give a smooth transition. You'll also want a 'flat' at the top of the ramp for standing on (to skate down the ramp) and also for somewhere to stand up on as you go up the ramp - it also facilitates a whole bunch of tricks etc..

Something along these lines should do the trick:







or 






For a finish, all you should need is a coat of something like rustins plastic coating, or a good external varnish. I wouldn't paint it as it'll soon get all chipped of if the final finish isn't strong enough.

Hope that helps a little bit (Used to be a tragic skateboarder when i was younger).


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## DomValente (21 May 2007)

That's cheating Byron no Pro's allowed :lol: 

Dom


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## tombo (21 May 2007)

byron,

my son would love a big ramp like the ones you show but i just dont have the room  so whatever it is will be a straight affair. I'd rather not varnish if i can get away with it


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## Slim (21 May 2007)

I think it needs to be varnished to reduce the risk of splinters. Also round over all the sharp edges of the ply.


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## ByronBlack (21 May 2007)

tombo - even though the pictures look big, you can scale them down. A straight ramp is a poor implement for skateboarding, even a very small version of one of the pics would be more suitable, straight ramps can be quite dangerous. You really do need a flat on top of the curve - this will stop the little fella from flying off the edge of the ramp and landing awkwardly. 

the 'quarter pipe' design illustrated above promotes safer skating but allowing the skater to only go up as high as the flat, and then either stop at that point by standing on the flat, or turning on the flat and coming back down the ramp - this is usually what ramps in skating are for.

Also, as mentioned. A hard varnish will be safer in the long run as it'll stop splintering and chipping of the boards, a skateboard can hit the ramps quite hard, and you need to protect the edges otherwise some serious gashes can occur.


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## j (22 May 2007)

ByronBlack":2vrjv6ko said:


> the 'quarter pipe' design illustrated above promotes safer skating but allowing the skater to only go up as high as the flat, and then either stop at that point by standing on the flat, or turning on the flat and coming back down the ramp.



OR fly 4 feet in the air, flip the board over twice, spin round 3 times and land it on two wheels.
Or maybe that's just on the xbox


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## SimonA (22 May 2007)

Hi Tom, maybe some of these links will be of use to you......

http://www.rickdahlen.com/pipepix/halfpipe.html

http://rampplans.org/ramps/

http://www.kidzworld.com/article/1829-b ... -skatepark

SimonA
with a miss spent youth!


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## Taffy Turner (22 May 2007)

A large part of my misspent youth was spent "scavenging" for materials and building ramps wherever we could. Building sites was a favourite venue for us!  

We would have killed for ones like those shown in the plans links!  

We once built a 12' high monster with 3' of vertical and used my mates Lambretta to tow us so we could get up to speed to ride the beast! In hindsight this could be considered to be a little bit reckless...  

Ours we usually built out of shuttering ply and pallets, until the council came and tore them down, and the whole process would start again!!

Now of course councils spend thousands building skate ramps for the kids.

In the words of Bob Dylan - "the times they are a changin..."

Nostalgic Taffy.


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## Scott (22 May 2007)

Taffy Turner":2h9op7bp said:


> Ours we usually built out of shuttering ply and pallets, until the council came and tore them down, and the whole process would start again!!



Aaah, happy memories of that scenario!!  8)


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## Wanlock Dod (22 May 2007)

I'm with everything Byron said about a radiused ramp with a flat bit on the top. 

Dod


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## syntec4 (23 May 2007)

Hi Tombo. 
Ha, Finally something I know a little about! I'm no Tony Hawk (i think i am)but I can give you some pointers. 

Depending on your stock pile, you could save yourself some time/money and get some rampage ramps. 

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-7562.aspx

They have the correct 4' radius for skate use. If you get a pair of them he will be able to learn to 'Ollie' which is the most basic trick to learn. You can then move onto the other tricks. The advantage of the plastics is they are more forgiving when you hit them and they never rot. They also stack up onto each other, so they are easy to put away. We have had ours for 2 years and they are left out all the time with no problems. 

However building some ramps is great fun if you have the time/money and space. We use 6mm ply and lots of screws to pull the sheet onto a strong frame made of 4x2's. 

The image below is called a kicker or sometimes fun box. You will notice it does not have a vertical section near the lip. This is like the rampage design and is designed for take off or landing. You would need a pair of this style of ramp. 






If you want to build a 'quarter' pipe style ramp. (Go up come back down on the same ramp) This will (should) have small vertical section of around 8 or 9" at the top. Again the radius is 4' for skate 9' for BMX. A piece of scaffold 'the lip' should be installed so that it is flush with the ramp and stick up around 1/2" above the 'drop-in' the flat bit at the top. You should apply candle wax to this to reduce friction when performing lip tricks. 
The wider you can make this ramp the better so you can slide across the width of the ramp. Lip tricks are very satisfying to learn and not to hard. The look very cool too. You only need one of these ramps, but 2 is good!
I have a mate who has built one of these for him and his son. He's made it with a little door in one end and they put the bikes inside the ramp when they are done. 

To protect the wooden ramps they are usually painted with yacht varnish. You don't want to add any additional grip with tape etc., you need to be able to slide the board a little to correct a poor landing. Also sliding smoothly down the ramp when you bail is better than removing flesh on the way down.

If he wants to learn a few tricks, get hold of some 'Props' 'How To' DVD's. They are very good. 

I don't bounce as well these days (34 now), but I still go regular with my 7 YRO to the Parks, George skates and BMX's. I just like the bikes. 
We have the best Concrete Bowl in the country not far from both of us. Victoria Park in Warrington in the business. It's free to use and a great park. Take him along and try it if you haven't already. D:

Knee pads are a must as well as a decent lid. They boost confidence as well as improve safety. Gloves are a good idea too. Knee pads are used not just to stop banging them but also to slide down the ramp when you bail. 
Watch some of the DVD's and you will see what I mean.


Cheers
Lee.


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## tombo (24 May 2007)

thanks guys lots of good info 

i priced up building a wooden ramp as described on one of byrons links and it was approaching £300 for a 3 foot high half pipe :shock:
I would realy enjoy building it and I am sure my son would love it, but i cant justify the expense....
Here is a little vid i took of him last weekend he seems to be doing quite well considering he is just 7! not quite got his 'rock 2 fakie' yet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATULCbkR0LU

In the mean time those plastic ramps that Syntec linked to look like a winner i just need to find somewhere that has them in stock.

Syntec I had heard of the park in warington and i think we will definitely pay a visit this weekend maybe see you there  

tom


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## Geoff (24 May 2007)

This side of the pond....I'd be scared if a neighbour kid hurt himself on that thing!!! :shock: 

I can smell a law suit. Be carefull.


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## Geoff (24 May 2007)

Sorry.....just my paranoid North American "Hey,let's sue EVERYONE!!!" side comin' out.....

Just don't want anyone hurt. :?


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## Tierney (27 May 2007)

I wouldn't worry about treating it. I built several ramps as a child; one half pipe had creosote on the sides but nothing on the surface. It lasted several years of use in the wonderful Irish climate. I also built several smaller ramps all of them continuously left outside and generally we lost interest or they wore through usage before the effect of the weather became an issue.

I mostly used 18mm ply for the sides and say 10m for the surface; but part of the charm was making the ramps (half pipe excluded) from whatever we could find.

Don't worry about the cost of the wood, tell your child to save the money themselves, that's what I had to do!

p.s. an 8 foot radius for the curve worked perfectly


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