BOX BUILDING

[kevbo999]

I want to build a box.  Maybe 4ft long, 1.5' tall or so, short enough to learn shit on, but tall enough that it's legit.  I wanna be able to move it, but sturdy enough that it won't slide all over.  Do you guys have any links, plans or recommendations?

[sage]

do you really need plans to build a wooden rectangle?

[tysj!]

Beats me but this box is sick. on wheels!

[mcpeepants]

do you really need plans to build a wooden rectangle?

What gets me is that dude has over 3,000 posts on here, but he doesn't know how to build a box. You should probably spend more time skating and less time on here.

[kevbo999]

Clearly some materials would be cheaper/better than others.. so what kind of wood would you use?  Same kind for the whole thing?  What's better for coping, angle iron or round pipe?  Would you cover the top with something to slide better?   Etc, etc.

I'm a skater, not a carpenter, and I live in a small apt. with no workshop.  I'm sure some "skate box" plans are better than others.. therefore I'm asking you guys, who may have experience, instead of some randos on Google.  This is the Help section of a skateboarding forum, right?

[H8R part 4]

first off, its completely pointless to build a 4 foot long box.  thats a total of 48 inches, your board is 32 inches, that leaves you a whopping 16 inches...not much fun.  i built a 2' x 8' box and while it was fun at first, it was still too short. 



length:  buy four X' long 2x4. 
height:  cut six Y' long 2x4 for vertical supports
width:  cut  six Z' long 2x4 for horizontal supports
if this were my project i would make 8'L x 16"H x 2'W but you can adjust it to your preferences.

buy/cut whatever size plywood for the top depending on your specs.  you can get some masonite(its cheap) for the top if you want something thats slides well and don't want to worry about splinters.     

the type of wood you use depends on your budget.  i used chemical treated lumber for the frame work because it knew it would be sitting outside in the rain.  you can cheap out with regular wood but only if you're going to store it indoors. 

2 pieces of thick angle iron.  don't cheap out and don't go to home depot(max length the sell is 6').  its worth the trouble of finding a scrap metal place and it'll be cheaper.  you can go with angle iron on one side and do the other side with round coping but thats more effort than its worth if you don't know what you're doing.   

use a combo of nails an screws to put everything together.  you can use heavy gauged nuts/bolts if you want the thing to never come apart but thats extra $$$. 

last and most importantly, MEASURE TWICE CUT ONCE.  i can't stress this enough.  do your math twice and take into account for wood loss with every cut.

i'll take a pic of the nice one i built over the summer(i'm heading out to skate it after i post this) and you'll see how simple it was to build. 
you don't need to be a carpenter, you just need common sense.        


this spring i'm looking to build a 4'W x 16'L box but even then i think its going to be too short.  i like doing long grinds/manuals plus its nice having enough time to set up for another trick out of it.  it also gives you the option of popping out in the middle of the ledge as opposed to rolling off the end which makes it more challenging and fun.   

               

[rawbertson.]

yeah i was going to say that sounds way too short... i had one that was 8 feet long and it sucked. i gave it away.

this is the cheapest way to do it

find something that looks like it would be a good box, i went to the gas station and found two 4 foot plastic display boxes (they used them to display windshield wiper fluid, oil, etc in front of the pumps/store) they had some they were scrapping. they were good on their own i used to do lines hitting both boxes but it got boring fast.

so once you found a "base" all you need is 1 sheet of plywood which you can cheap out on if you arent doing slide tricks on it you can get it for probably 15 bucks. since u said u want it to slide you are gonna have to spend way more money like 50 bucks for the sheet. dont use nails i find them to be a pain inthe ass. get a 3/16 drillbit and some #10x1 countersunk sheet metal screws that will be much easier.

dont use circle coping, do you even know how to install that? you have to install it from the bottom man are you ready for that? fucking pain in the nuts. it means you gotta build it from scratch. 2x4s are the most expensive and are hard to cut nicely unless you have good tools which are mad expensive.

dont get aluminum, galvanized, or stainless steel they are all too soft and galvanized steel will eat your trucks alive im sure. its all rugged and shit. just get the plain steel if it starts to rust out (which it will) you can just do a few grinds to wear it off or if ur a baby get a wire wheel and a angle grinder and its good as new underneath the rust, you can do this a ton of times.

so my method u only have to spend money on a drill if u dont have one, (you should get one anyway they are useful), the screws (maybe 5-10$ depending where u go. you should look into getting stainless steel screws they dont rust) angle iron (should only be like 20 bucks tops for a 12 footer), and the plywood to cover the top and mount the angle iron. i ended up buying 2x4s just to hold the 2 boxes together better we driled em along lengthwise underneath.

so yeah steal a foundation, steal ply wood if you can, get a drill cause you need one for life or borrow one(makitas are best but dewalts are cheap if you are never gonna use it), get 10x1 s/s countersunk sheet metal screws (also called "flat head", fastenal part 1173032), and get angle iron (and get them to cut it most places have a bandsaw or chop saw so measure first) and youve got yourself a box for under 50$ easy.

[Chopsuey]

I'm in to building a mini ramp too, so here's where I've been inspiring myself:

http://www.xtremeskater.com/

I'm sure everyone knows this website. Are these plans doable?

[lamfordie]

heres a good website to build a ledge and other stuff
http://diyskate.com/