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Skateboarding => USELESS WOODEN TOY BANTER => Topic started by: arobert42 on February 24, 2016, 11:39:12 AM
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I'm building a mini ramp and looking at my surface options. Ideally I'd use Skatelite, but at $137 a sheet that shit adds up quick. Has anyone skated Gator Skins or Skater's Blend? Both are cheaper options, but I don't want to surface with something that sucks.
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if it's indoors just use masonite.
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Stainless steel is great especially on a sunny day!
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Lots of quickcrete
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Stainless steel is great especially on a sunny day!
Especially those really hot days you have to go shirtless
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I would ask for a sample and see what it looks like in person. I think Gator Skins are made of cardboard with some type of coating, which seems a little suspect but I've never used it.
Let us know how it goes, I've been contemplating a mini for my backyard for a while now and was planning on sucking it up and using skatelite. I've had a few mini ramps in my lifetime and I'm done with rotted plywood surfaces and splinters.
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We used lauan back in the day.
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Sheet metal/steel works good too. I went to a local metal salvage yard awhile back and got enough for a mini for what amounted to $37 a sheet.
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indoor - plywood and for outdoor skatellite.
if its not a mini ramp or halfpipe use concrete.
as soon as you decide to build a hip and a pocket
use concrete.
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Skatelite used to sell a cheaper 'first roll' product. Supposedly the first sheets that came out of their machines weren't the same consistency as when they got going. It was a bit grainier and less slippery and I actually liked it better.
I would still probably just use Masonite for sake of cost although it inevitably gets slippery. White birch is also really good (more $) and holds up well indoors. Good snap off of it too. The Philly Warehouse uses Birch.
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search craigslist for used skatelite.
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I bought Ramp Armor for my backyard mini and it's been really good. The price was a bit cheaper than skatelite, but not as cheap as Gator Skins (which looks like it is of poor quality ... but I dunno).
The real bitch was the shipping, since from what I can tell, there's no distribution for either of those brands in California. I got my Ramp Armor from Montana I believe.
Best of luck.
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I have built a number of ramps and have used almost every surface option.
Including gator skin. I live in whistler, Canada, pretty harsh wet weather conditions, with snow for 3-4 months a year.
Worst is standard plywood. It will begin to chip up and become unskateable
Masonite is one step up from plywood, out doors it will begin to fall apart.
Indoors it lasts longer but is very dusty.
Birch plywood is your good option. If it's outside you can paint it with a good marine paint.
This will seal it and it will take longer to start chipping and have better weather resistance.
Gator skin. I think this is a good product, not as good as skatelight but it is significantly Cheaper. I built a ramp with this two years ago. It made it through first winter no problem. I haven't checked how it survived this winter but I'm assuming it's going to be fine. I built another ramp 6 years ago that we surfaced with another similar product from this company. This was before they made gator skin, it was a counter top material made from wood pulp, plastic and resin. Same as gator skin. That ramp made it through five winters before any issues. Last summer we pulled up the surfacing and patched The plywood sheeting underneath that had rotted out. I skate this ramp at least twice a week in the summer and it's still good to go.
Skatelight is obviously the best for outdoor wood ramps. I built a wood public outdoor park out of treated lumber and Skatelight.
This park lasted for over ten years. And after the wood finally rotted out, I salvaged some of the skatelight for an indoor ramp in a
Skateshop, that gets heavily skated. Skatelight is close to indestructible.
Concrete is by far the best material for skateboarding but it is also the most expensive and hardest to build with properly.
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I have built a number of ramps and have used almost every surface option.
Including gator skin. I live in whistler, Canada, pretty harsh wet weather conditions, with snow for 3-4 months a year.
Worst is standard plywood. It will begin to chip up and become unskateable
Masonite is one step up from plywood, out doors it will begin to fall apart.
Indoors it lasts longer but is very dusty.
Birch plywood is your good option. If it's outside you can paint it with a good marine paint.
This will seal it and it will take longer to start chipping and have better weather resistance.
Gator skin. I think this is a good product, not as good as skatelight but it is significantly Cheaper. I built a ramp with this two years ago. It made it through first winter no problem. I haven't checked how it survived this winter but I'm assuming it's going to be fine. I built another ramp 6 years ago that we surfaced with another similar product from this company. This was before they made gator skin, it was a counter top material made from wood pulp, plastic and resin. Same as gator skin. That ramp made it through five winters before any issues. Last summer we pulled up the surfacing and patched The plywood sheeting underneath that had rotted out. I skate this ramp at least twice a week in the summer and it's still good to go.
Skatelight is obviously the best for outdoor wood ramps. I built a wood public outdoor park out of treated lumber and Skatelight.
This park lasted for over ten years. And after the wood finally rotted out, I salvaged some of the skatelight for an indoor ramp in a
Skateshop, that gets heavily skated. Skatelight is close to indestructible.
Concrete is by far the best material for skateboarding but it is also the most expensive and hardest to build with properly.
True and false. Concrete is so much easier to work with than wood, doing hips and anything other than a basic radius is a headache. Its so much easier to shape and form something than make 100's of custom cuts.
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I have built a number of ramps and have used almost every surface option.
Skatelight is obviously the best for outdoor wood ramps. I built a wood public outdoor park out of treated lumber and Skatelight.
This park lasted for over ten years. And after the wood finally rotted out, I salvaged some of the skatelight for an indoor ramp in a
Skateshop, that gets heavily skated. Skatelight is close to indestructible.
skatelite