Building a friggin' pole jam

[matty_c]

She was texting her boyfriend saying look at this muppet

Sorry

That’s kinda sick you just smacked fuck out of a slab with a sledge, heart for days
Hard work, fuck me you’re keen
Sounds like torture


Edit, my bad I intended on having a laugh then helping, I forgot to help
If you can get your hands on something with a sds bit just smash a wee hole in there, insert reo and concrete. Brute force like that is no good for your arms or the slab. Thor’s just a movie, bro

[Level 60 Dwarf Rogue]

I didn't think I'd get this invested, but I need to know what the status of the pole jam is. Thanks.

[Hombreezy]

Y’all haven’t mentioned the easiest way. Find a spot where the cement meets the grass and there’s a sidewalk or more cement running next to it all . In the corner area of the grass where everything meets dig. Dig farther away from the sidewalk to make it a bigger gap. If you do it in the very corner, it’s not even a gap at all. Then you put the pole in and boom, you and all the homies are pole jamming over the grass on to the sidewalk. Done this at multiple parks and spots before and it only takes an hour of hard work max. Usually lasts for a week or so before the city or someone digs up the pole.

[edssexTOY]

Has anyone tried to make a natural pole jam in the streets with just a sledgehammer?

There’s an almost perfect one by me that goes into a little ditch. It’s already bent but it’s just barely too steep. Wondering if it would even be possible to bend it with just a sledgehammer?

Always been curious about this as well. I always imagined taking a bow torch to the bottom of the pole for awhile then hitting it with a sledge hammer. No idea if it would work or not. Anyone ever tried?

[Madam, I'm Adam]

Sooo, has the polejam been born?!?

I didn't think I'd get this invested, but I need to know what the status of the pole jam is. Thanks.

Ah I couldn't get it done. The sledgehammer just wasn't going to do the job. I resigned myself to the fact that I needed to hire someone with a jackhammer or special drill to get a deep enough hole. Then I had money issues and couldn't pay for it. I still have the pole and even the bag of concrete, as well as the other tools. I actually found a natty pole jam this past spring so there was no need to build my own, but of course it's gone now. So hopefully next spring I'll get it done. I still want to do it; there still isn't any reliable, normal pole jam in my entire city.

She was texting her boyfriend saying look at this muppet

Yeah, probably. Honestly I watched a fucking how-to video with Al Partanen and he literally just took a sledgehammer to some concrete and somehow bust a hole open due to some pre-existing hole. It's all lies. I have very little construction or DIY experience and no one to help so I thought it would work out.

If you can get your hands on something with a sds bit just smash a wee hole in there, insert reo and concrete. Brute force like that is no good for your arms or the slab. Thor’s just a movie, bro

Never heard of an SDS bit or anything of the sort, I'll check that out.

Y’all haven’t mentioned the easiest way. Find a spot where the cement meets the grass and there’s a sidewalk or more cement running next to it all . In the corner area of the grass where everything meets dig. Dig farther away from the sidewalk to make it a bigger gap. If you do it in the very corner, it’s not even a gap at all. Then you put the pole in and boom, you and all the homies are pole jamming over the grass on to the sidewalk. Done this at multiple parks and spots before and it only takes an hour of hard work max. Usually lasts for a week or so before the city or someone digs up the pole.

I was looking for spots like this but no dice, plus I want to build a jam that lasts for awhile so I was scoping out abandoned buildings and their parking lots. But maybe I'll go on a deeper hunt next time.

[Lloyd Braun]

You mentioned you wanted to put it at your local park initially I think? It’s not impossible but will be difficult since they likely poured 4-6inches of concrete and busting that up to put your pole in would be a big undertaking.

The cheapest and easiest method (which I think I mentioned before) would be to find someone ideally a buddy, to weld a plate onto the pole at your desired angle with holes for some bolts. borrow or rent an SDS concrete hammer drill and insert some bolts tighten them down and your done. If you have to pay a welder to do it it probably would be less than $50 if you have all the materials. But if you know anyone that welds it’s likely they could do it all from scrap at their job. I paid a buddy to weld me a flat bar and he was able to use all scrap material and I paid him $50 for his time.

Here’s an example a friend made at a local DIY as well as links to the materials I mentioned above.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-20-Volt-Max-1-in-SDS-Plus-Cordless-Rotary-Hammer-2-Batteries-and-Charge-Included/1001431230

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Red-Head-10-Pack-3-3-4-in-x-1-2-in-Wedge-Anchors/1000775736?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-google-_-lia-_-126-_-masonryanchoring-_-1000775736-_-0&placeholder=null&gclid=CjwKCAjw0On8BRAgEiwAincsHDAtMo3Z0UPv1Do1t-yHNZncTXwc_yaAYFoZj3dPO1y0-eg4HAZE3RoC0OoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


Edit: the only downside to this method is it’s really easy to steal or take out, all they need is a wrench. So if you bend the bolts after the nuts are tight and you already have concrete I’d pour some around the bolts. Still pretty easy to take out by say the city but it will deter crack heads from just stealing it to scrap.

[Ray C. Usery]

After 3:25 you will see a simple pole jam that any welder could build you for $100 just from their scrap. I have better footage of it somewhere but I cant find it.

Hit up Busenitz he'd probably make you one. You can take it anywhere or bolt it down

[Madam, I'm Adam]

Those are good ideas @Ray C. Usery @Michnich191 I may just go with those options. Bolting a pole to the ground is probably the best idea.

Still don't really know where to do it, I called the city to ask for permission to build it in the park and was denied, so I'm a bit paranoid that they'll know it was me if I do in fact build it in the park. It's been snowing for the past two weeks and the weather won't be consistently warm until fucking April, so that's like seven months, so when I emerge from hibernation I'll explore those ideas.

[matty_c]

I had a look at that video yeah that’s total bullshit and kind of infuriating why bother making a tutorial video at all if it’s just shit advice

[Madam, I'm Adam]

I had a look at that video yeah that’s total bullshit and kind of infuriating why bother making a tutorial video at all if it’s just shit advice

It's weird, huh. He goes to Home Depot and buys a sledge and everything. And then he just so happens to bust a hole where there's already a hole underneath. And my thought process was like, okay even if there's not a pre-existing hole, I'll just be able to dig one out after I bust through the concrete. Why would I buy this sledgehammer otherwise? But nope.

[matty_c]

Yeah you can see the spray paint where they marked and cut a bit out with a concrete cutter or something
Don’t hire one mate they can kick like a motherfucker if you catch the blade on something

The lads that said to bolt it down are right that’s the easiest way with tools but you still need a sds hammer drill

I skated a diy in Pattaya one time and it was a paved brick surface they had removed one brick and just smashed it into the ground and concreted it in
That’s the easiest way with no tools just a sledge but again it’s already been mentioned

[Madam, I'm Adam]

Six years later, finally got this done. Better late than never. Basically, I gave up on this for a few years, then in the last two years I A) found a pole and B) asked a buddy who welds to help me build it. He went MIA, and I lost the pole I gave him.

No pole jams for sale online, either. I scoured the internet but nothing was available in my area. And I think I mentioned it before, but there are no natty poles in my city that are even slightly doable. They're basically all impossible.

So recently I decided to get this shit done myself. I drew up the blueprints myself (can DM a pic to anyone if interested), did all the measurements to figure out what would be fun and accessible, and took the prints to a custom metal workshop.

The dude at the workshop was actually really cool. He knew a bit about skating and suggested that the metal to use would be mild steel, which would be optimal for grinding and not as much money as stainless steel. They got the pole jam done quickly and it was at a good price as well. They made it heavy too, so it doesn't move around easily.

All in all, I'm hyped. I tried skating it for the first time today and started to figure it out. Looking forward to getting it dialed and using it in a line I'd like to film.

[Plan9Customs]

Rad you finally got one after all this time. Made one 10 or so years ago(like $10 in materials).

One thing I will suggest, assuming you haven’t found out for yourself yet, is glue some old bike inner tubes or smear the hell out of the bottom with some latex caulk. Those things move really easily and it’s not so fun hitting it at full speed and having it come along for the ride.

[Big Brother]

@tomk

[mattchew]

Wow sick thread, I’d love to have one of these!

[Madam, I'm Adam]

Rad you finally got one after all this time. Made one 10 or so years ago(like $10 in materials). One thing I will suggest, assuming you haven’t found out for yourself yet, is glue some old bike inner tubes or smear the hell out of the bottom with some latex caulk. Those things move really easily and it’s not so fun hitting it at full speed and having it come along for the ride.

Good to know, thanks. It's pretty heavy and I designed the base to be big enough to hold a few bricks I have, it's pretty stable but those are great tips regardless!

Wow sick thread, I’d love to have one of these!

Thanks Matt, yeah, get some

[EdLawndale]

Pool jam looks super fun!

[GumOnMyGrip]

@Plan9Customs @Madam, I'm Adam
 What’s the angle you guys have? Or did you just eyeball it?
They both look really fun.

[Plan9Customs]

Mine is 45* at 2’ tall.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

@Plan9Customs @Madam, I'm Adam
 What’s the angle you guys have? Or did you just eyeball it?
They both look really fun.

Thanks! I planned mine to be at a 30-degree angle. To get an idea of what that would look like, I put a protractor on the ground, then put lockable measuring tape against the 30 mark and stood back to see approximately how mellow of an angle it would be. It didn't seem too mellow for me, so I went with that.

[Texas_Tone]

I always daydream about hitting the giant target 2x12 metal things into a pole jam, they are like 8 ft tall though, prolly need a 18 wheeler and knock one of those over enough to make a pole jam, it would bascially be a giant angled diving board coming from the cement made of metal, most of them are painted white see them in Home Depot parking lots as well

[backside_frontside]

If your DIY pole jam is less than a 45 degree angle it's just a steep-ish ride on grind.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

If your DIY pole jam is less than a 45 degree angle it's just a steep-ish ride on grind.

Sure, shithead 

[backside_frontside]

Expand Quote

If your DIY pole jam is less than a 45 degree angle it's just a steep-ish ride on grind.

[close]

Sure, shithead 

Lol you know I'm right tho. A real pole jam is more like a wallie.

[Texas_Tone]

If your DIY pole jam is less than a 45 degree angle it's just a steep-ish ride on grind.

Wade Burkitt’s ender from thrill of it all would like a word with you

[Plan9Customs]

Well, since this is the first documented pole jam, I’d say you’re wrong about less than 45* not being a pole jam

History has spoken.

[backside_frontside]

Well, since this is the first documented pole jam, I’d say you’re wrong about less than 45* not being a pole jam

History has spoken.

Idk man, that one looks pretty close to 45 to me, but I don't have my protractor on me to confirm.