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Indoor Half Pipe

DonCanDo | Posted in Photo Gallery on November 4, 2008 03:37am

Here’s something you don’t see every day.  The boys (ages 14 and 16) who live here built a skateboard half pipe in one bay of the garage.  The other bay is where they keep their bikes, skateboards and other recreational equipment in various states of repair.

This is the house where I’m working for a few days.  One of my jobs is to replace the broken windows, 2 of which can be seen in the pictures.  Occasionally, the skateboard gets away from them  They haven’t broken the glass with their hands or arms yet (so they say).

Regardless, for a few dollars more, I’m replacing the glass with heavy duty Plexiglass.  At least that will make the garage a slightly safer place for their hobby.

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  1. Henley | Nov 04, 2008 03:46am | #1

    Those guy's are going to need to add a little vert. to that ramp.

    Could be an interesting project for you...

    Building ramps was part of my early building career, more to it then meets the eye.

  2. JMadson | Nov 04, 2008 03:49am | #2

    why not raise the size of the back rail to cover the windows?

     
    1. User avater
      Luka | Nov 04, 2008 07:14am | #5

      They want to be able to use that top lip.If they go much higher, they'll crash into the rafters.

  3. danno7x | Nov 04, 2008 06:15am | #3

    Hey what did they use for the final surface? I havent found anything thats really affordable (maybe I mean cheep) Ive got a frame built for my boy but waiting for a good Idea on the final surface I know I can bend 1/2 ply for a base but cant afford the real skate surface, let alone find any locally, I forget what they call it right now.

    1. jimmyvern | Nov 04, 2008 06:35am | #4

      Two layers of 1/2" ply for the solid surface will work great. Then use a layer of 1/4" BC for the top surface. That should be smooth enough and easy to replace when it wears out. If you want to go for super smooth use 1/4 " masonite (hardboard) and cover it with 2 or 3 coats of marine grade polyurethane (keeps the water from destroying the hardboard). A friend of mine used the latter and it took a year before the Texas elements made him replace it.

      1. danno7x | Nov 04, 2008 02:24pm | #6

        Thanks, I was going to go with 2 layers of ply one horiz. one vertical, but what is BC?  Masonite should be affordable enough, I think its less than ten dollars a sheet, do you think marine paint would work any better or at least as good?  My biggest concern has been that I dont want to put something on that will wear out so fast that all the fun is lost, I live in a northern climate and figured to tarp it for winter.

        1. Henley | Nov 04, 2008 02:55pm | #7

          Masonite works well till winter...

          Nothing holds up well here in the north.

        2. jimmyvern | Nov 04, 2008 03:06pm | #8

          BC is ply that is sanded smooth on one side without any knot holes or patches. In the north you might want to stick with that. Paint on the other hand leaves the surface too slippery and the skateboard will slip out from underneath the kids when their doing a trick. I haven't done it in a while but google ramps and see what others in your climate are doing.

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