How to Make a Tech Deck Rail

Too many of the rails used on finger boards (such as Tech Decks) are simply drawer handles and limit your creativity and style. Others are made of aluminum or plastic that don't feel like the rails people really skate on. This project will help you to build an authentic feeling skate park rail.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Steel coat hanger
• Soldering gun and solder
• Dremel with sanding disk
• Portland cement
• Whipped cream container, clean
• Tongue depressors or popsicle sticks
• Plastic cup
• Cookie sheet and plastic to line/protect it

1. Untwist the top of a wire coat hanger and straighten it out. Cut the coat hanger wire to a length of 12 inches at the straightest part. Cut another two lengths that are each 6 inches long.

2. Remove the surface coating, including paint, by sanding the wire pieces with a sanding wheel on your Dremel tool. Use the tool so that the direction of rotation is in line with the wires and so that you are perpendicular to the wire to decrease the amount of paint and metal flakes that will hit you.

3. Bend one end of the 12-inch piece into a curl on the end using a pair of needle-nose pliers. Do the same thing to the opposite end towards the same side of the hanger. Use the pliers to make sure that the curls are in line with each other.

4. Clip both 6-inch pieces into 2-inch pieces. Bend a centimeter of one end into an "L" shape. Lay the 12-inch piece on a heat-resistant surface that you have cleaned and dried. Lay the 2-inch pieces on the side of the rail that the curls of the main rail face. Make sure that the lower part of the L is away from the main rail. Space out the 2-inch pieces 2 inches apart and lay them in this position on the heat-resistant surface.

5. Solder the 2-inch pieces onto the longer piece to make the vertical supports. Use lead-free rosin core solder to make the joint. Remember that you need to heat the metal and melt the solder into a small blob onto one and then the other piece of metal to get them to connect easier. If the rails are not exactly lined up, remember that you can always re-melt the solder later to reposition the supports.

6. Mix the cement in a plastic cup with a tongue depressor. Measure equal amounts of Portland cement and water into a clean plastic tub, such as an old whipped cream container. Pour the mixture into a cookie sheet lined with plastic so you don't ruin the sheet. Set your rail into the cookie sheet with the L hooks in the concrete. You can use string or tape to keep the rail upright for the time it takes for the concrete to cure.

Tips & Warnings

• Unravel wire to expose the ends and then tape the wire so that the ends form a brush. Use this brush to texture the concrete before it completely sets up by dragging or pricking the surface of the concrete. Glue a grip onto the flat side of a tongue depressor or popsicle stick and use it to smooth out the concrete and to cut the concrete into squares at the surface so that the concrete looks authentic.
• The writer of this article has no association with the Tech Deck company. Any risk of injury is assumed by the builder. Lead found in some solders is toxic and levels can build up over time. Wear a mask to avoid inhaling fumes or particles. Wear goggles during this entire project. Read and follow all instructions that come with the equipment that you are using, remembering to include the safety instructions in your reading. Concrete and metal are as dangerous in miniature as they are in real life. Do not cut yourself or skin yourself on these materials and wear leather gloves when working on or playing with this project. Be careful not to get concrete on your cookie sheet or it might not come off.

References

• Tech Deck Stair Rail (Size Reference)
• Cardboard Rail Base (Size Reference)

Resources

• How to Make a Fingerboard 21 Set
• How to Make An Index Card Fingerboard
• Homemade Fingerboard, Picnic Table, Bench and Pole Bank