How to Make Skateboard Ramps

Video Transcript

"Hey guys, what's up? This is Jacob from the Skate Barn and Skate Park in Hampstead North Carolina. Today we're going to talk about building skateboard ramps. First things first, when building a skateboard ramp, you need to determine how high, how wide, and how steep you want our ramp. In this case we, here we have a six foot half pipe, that's twenty four feet wide. When you go to build your half pipe, you're going to need to learn how to cut your transitions. A lot of builders will tell you that cutting the transitions is one of the hardest parts in building a skateboard ramp. You want to make sure that you have a nice, consistent curve that will flush with the flat bottom and also flush with the rail at the top. To get these blueprints it's best to go online, or contact your local skate shop to find out where of how to get a hold of them. Once you've built, once you've got your blueprints, you'd like to decide what kind of surface you want to put on your ramp. If your ramp's going to be outside, it's best to cover it with a sheet metal, something, some kind of steel that's a thick grade, that can endure the elements. Indoors, you can get by with using Skatelite or Masonite, or even birch wood. If it is going to be a plywood ramp outside I would recommend putting water seal or a water proof paint on the surface. Once that's all said and done, you want to get your 2x4's or 2x6's, which ever you prefer to use, and cut to length for your stringers. Your stringer will attach to your transitions, every six inches and run the length of the ramp. After your stringers are put in place and your transition's put in place, it's time for layering. You want to choose a plywood, when you layer, that's not going to be so thick it'll bend, but you don't want it so thin that you actually break through it. So a good 3/8 to 1/2 inch plywood is what I would choose. Then find your steel coping, place it on top of the ramp, build your decking, then you're ready to skate. That's a basic run through on how to build a ramp, these are very broad steps, however if you get the blueprints and contact a local carpenter, and you can build this thing. And that's how you build a skateboard ramp."