Hey,
So I built my own skateboarding box a while ago, and i've seen a lot of people on these here interwebs asking about how to make one and what it could/should look like. So I thought that I'd post some pictures and let you know how i did it. So for my box i wanted a manny pad that i could easily grind as well. So the over all shape is 8' long, 4' wide and like 8"high.
For the grind-able edges on the side i used 1/4" angle iron, which is readily available at you local hardware or metal shop, the rest you can get at home depot.
So to start out your basic supplies will be:
- Ten 8' 2'x4's
- One box of decking screws stuff like 2", what you think will go through the wood
- One sheet of 1/2" 4'x8' plywood
- Two 8' lengths of 1/4" angle iron
You'll need some tools too:
- Tape measure (measure twice cut once!)
- Circular saw (Wear your safety glasses!)
- Electric drill
- Bit for drill that recesses (for the screws on the angle iron)
So to start out we'll make the main rectangle. Keep four of your 2'x4's at 8', put two of those aside for now. Take the other two and lay them out about 4' apart. Then, cut seven 45" long pieces of 2'x4'. This should take up three and a half of your 2'x4's and you should now have two put aside and 2 left over. Then when you have all of those pieces cut lay them out basically as you see above. The reason for so many across is so that it will be solid as a rock. Mine is 2 years old, I've left it out both winters, and it is fine. You could land a 20' drop on this thing and not worry about bounce or it breaking. If you want less that's cool too. But to put this together start with the two end pieces and make the rectangle outline we're going for. Screw them in on each side at each end, put two screws in each place. Remember to screw through the 8' 2'x4'sinto the shorter ones so that we get the full 8'x4' shape that we want. then all the other shorter pieces should slide in. i spaced them at 16" apart i think, the important thing is that they're even. For these put two screws in on each side as well. Then you should have your fully framed Rectangle and the plywood sheet should fit perfectly on top of it.
You could screw it on now, as I did, or wait till we put on the second lighter layer for height. For screwing the plywood down i think i put a screw in every corner and then like a screw in every 8". That may have been overkill, but better safe than sorry. The second layer that we're gonna do is basically the outline of the layer we just did. So take those two 8' 2'x4's that we set aside for late and lay them out again at about 4' apart. Then cut two more 45" long 2'x4's. These then make up all you need for the bottom layer.
But how do we attach the two layers, and unfortunately I did not take any good photos that showed how I did this. But I will explain. Basically I cut 14 little 7 inch pieces of 2'x4'. That's a rough length but basically i cut them so they would touch the ground when secured in place. If they don't it should be fine. So once you have all your little pieces place two against each of the cross pieces on the top layer vertically, one at each side against the long pieces. Then screw each one in with two screws through the long pieces of the top layer. Then once all are screwed in place you should be able to slide the assembled bottom layer right over the now standing small pieces. Then do the same in screwing the bottom layer to the small pieces. Now you have a totally functional manny pad. But that's not enough, you wanna grind this thing.
So, what I did was put some angle iron on it, and I used thicker stuff than I probably needed, but I wanted it to last. You could definitely go with 1/8" angle iron, or I've heard that a lot of people use their old bed rails after they grind the legs off. But whatever you do be shure to use good screws and recess the paces that you're going to screw them in (you don't want to hang up on them or break one of the screws holding on what your grinding.) i think i did six on each side, three on the top and three on the side. And for this I have not documented it well either so i cant really show it to you. But if you go to your local Home Depot or Lowes, whatever you have, and tell the guys there what you want to do, and what you're using they should be able to help you out. Or if you have a question you want to ask me leave a comment or message me.
So I hope that your project goes well, and that this guide has been helpful. Check back for more pics of my box and me using it. I may put up vid soon of me shredding it, just to show it's usefulness. And if I end up making another one, or a different type of ramp i'll make a video and post it on my youtube channel. One thing I am planning on making soon is a drop in ramp for snowboarding some street spots. There's a box on this page somewhere that should lead to my youtube channel, so check there for updates, or some snowboarding fails.
-Elias
