New Ply

Cut a couple of sections of new ply for the SkateGarage ramp today. One will fill in where the horrible steel plates went, the other includes the extended flat bottom.


Hopefully get em screwed on place in the next few days. I remember now why I chose metalwork over woodwork at school.

Shroom

No this isn't DTBs holiday home. Taken near Alixxs gaff on a trip to Unit 1.

Dark Days

Found this picture on my camera - taken at Shepton Mallett autojumble last October

Way ahead of its time but its still awful - the Ariel 3.

If you've got one of these little beauties in your garage - keep it there.

At Holiday

First MTB ride in ages turned into a clag-fest yesterday. Nice up on the Ridgeway though.

More progress on the SkateGarage - battens fitted to the metal ramp bits so I can now cut and fit new ply sections. Garage seems a bit wet at the back tho - maybe got a leaky roof.

And Unit 1 old blokes sesh next Sunday - first skate in 5 weeks or so.

Merry Christmas

Have a good un, one and all.

Ramp Musings

So, 2ft6 extension frame made - here it is insitu:-Looks like the old ply is about 12mm as well so should be OK with the wombled ply. Just need to figure out the best way to fit it, particularly at the joints where the metal frame starts. Prolly screw some battens to the metal frame to screw into.

Measuring the flat bottom it now looks like its going to be about 6 1/2 to 7ft with the extension, so the old ramp dimensions must have been mega short. Duh. It did feel really big, although the platforms are only 2ft6. Not quite as bad as this but you get the point:-

It looks much better with the extension - more clearance overhead too. Actually looks better to skate instead of looking like a one-way trip to A&E waiting (but not very long) to happen.

The planning process has been rigorous using all modern planning techniques:-

Rampy Rethink

So I screwed the metal plates to the skate ramp and they stick out a mile. Not nice. And the ramp is quite short which means one of the platforms is a bit close to a roof joist, and it'll be really fast. And I don't skate that well yet.

So, Plan B - ramp extension time. I reckon I can add 2ft6 to the flat bottom and get rid of the metal plates. Should by a lot easier to learn on and a bit slower with the extra flat bottom.

Frame for the flat bottom extension is made:-

Its 2ft6 by 6ft. I used 25x38mm battens. The ramp flat bottom metal frame is 25mm box section steel and I didn't really want to add anymore height.

I also wombled two sheets of 8ft by 4ft 12mm ply from a skip in Swindon. One sheet is a bit gash but the other is OK. Hopefully I should have enough to fill the gaps where the metal plates would go (flat to the bottom of the transition). And then I think I'll skin it all with 3mm hardboard as the old ply is a bit rough.

Thats the plan anyway - we'll see how it pans out.