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I've seen people use small pvc pipes and just put 7 of together in a row to make a nice wide surface. I've also seen people just use what they use in the parks, that white cutting board like material.
If you were making a box for your backyard set up what would be the best material for your box? Whats cheaper? More Durable? Easier to build?
PVC will be way cheaper and will probably slide better, but is a pain in the ass to get onto the wood unless you drill holes. I'd still go with PVC though, unless you have money to spend
wrong. I built a 1 foot wide, eight feet long, two foot high box, with a sheet of plastic I ordered from a catelogue and the total cost of the box was like 50 bucks with exterior paint. Pvc pipe is way more expensive than you think if you want quality. Whats with teh super wide boxes. It's kind of cheating.
Go with pvc, it's wayyyyyy cheaper and slides sooooo much better.
As for screwing it into wood, here's how I do it.
1. Place pvc tube on top of wood where you want it to stay.
2. Drill a hole through the top of the pvc, the hole should be wide enough for the screw you are using to fit through it, and also wide enough for the bit (used for the actual screw) to fit into
3. Screw bottom of the pvc trube into the wood from inside the pvc tube (fit the screw and bit down through the hole you previously drilled)
4. Sand the hold on the top of the pvc
5. Repeat process farther down the rail as much as you feel necessary
6. Repeat steps 1-6 for other pvc tubes.
It works. Your skis wont get caught on the holes. HOWEVER, since you'll have a bunch of pvc tubes next to eachother, make sure you don't drill the holes in the tubes equal with eachother or in the same area. If you do that, your edge will catch on the multiple holes in a line (if that makes sense)
I have friends that use PVC and that just slides really nicely. Its relatively cheap u can't really beat it. I just built my own boxish jib with just two small pvcs next to each other.
Ive never used more than 2 pieces of pvc, but with those i just built a simple rectangle frame, just to use as a guide, that the pipes fit snugly next to each other in, then put the wood on top of the pvc and drilled screws up through the bottom, so theres no holes on the top. Also on each end i put a bolt, with a nut on the inside instead of a screw since it holds a little better.
I'm not sure how much it costs, but the material that is made to make hockey boards is really similar to a box and may be worth looking into. I know you can buy it online because I've seen a few homemade rinks in my neighborhood who went all out with the boards. Probably not that much help but it's worth looking into.
Exactly, when you're making a box, there's no right or wrong way to do it. Might even be worth a trip to your local home depot for some advice. Just find something that slides and that's cheap.
HDPE is the stuff the use for real boxes, you can get it online from US plastics or garden supply stores. if you use that or plexi glass or any surface like that though, you will NEED to have coping, or else youll keep chipping the surface.
I use the trex decking material(gray recycled plastic wood type stuff) which is cheap and is at most home depots. It is not the best material because it is really sof and i have dug my edge into it with my new sharp skis.
I also own a double barrel pvc rail which is really fun.
All in all If you want a flat box look into trex. (Trex is also used in park benches)
If you want to go full bore on this project you'll need some HDPE (High Density Polyurethane) It's the sheet of plastic on the top of resort boxes. I'm not sure what you would do for the edges though..metal of some sort. Anybody have any insight on edges?
Also as far as the first pic in the op. Put your supports on the inside. the less shit you have sticking out to eat it on the better.
Just make the top of the box, then add the legs in. Throw a bottom rail or cross brace if you want it to outlast your house. Some ply on the wides isn't necessary but you can use scrap sections. Can cut holes in those with a jigsaw for moving it around.
And as somebody mentioned if you get a nice topsheet def use coping. Actually with any flat topsheet. Pvc tubes you don't need to because they're round. Unless you want to shave in when you grip the edge.
You don't even need to weld it. If you're going to use coping figure out what size. Add a 2x4 dropped down the height of your coping+ topsheet. Drill it to the frame, bolt the coping to the frame. Add the topsheet, enjoy.
Leaving a little room between the hdpe and coping is generally a good idea as well.
You can build a rock solid box that slides as good as the ones at resorts for not that much money and with normal power tools like a drill and jigsaw. A miter saw is nice for using angles in the framing, straight cuts, and being fast but not needed.
Also as far as the first pic in the op. Put your supports on the inside. the less shit you have sticking out to eat it on the better.
Just make the top of the box, then add the legs in. Throw a bottom rail or cross brace if you want it to outlast your house. Some ply on the wides isn't necessary but you can use scrap sections. Can cut holes in those with a jigsaw for moving it around.
And as somebody mentioned if you get a nice topsheet def use coping. Actually with any flat topsheet. Pvc tubes you don't need to because they're round. Unless you want to shave in when you grip the edge.
You don't even need to weld it. If you're going to use coping figure out what size. Add a 2x4 dropped down the height of your coping+ topsheet. Drill it to the frame, bolt the coping to the frame. Add the topsheet, enjoy.
Leaving a little room between the hdpe and coping is generally a good idea as well.
You can build a rock solid box that slides as good as the ones at resorts for not that much money and with normal power tools like a drill and jigsaw. A miter saw is nice for using angles in the framing, straight cuts, and being fast but not needed.
What should I use for coping I am putting an hdpe sheet on my box but I forgot about coping should I use pvc pipes or steel bars? Or is coping even necessary?
TcluffWhat should I use for coping I am putting an hdpe sheet on my box but I forgot about coping should I use pvc pipes or steel bars? Or is coping even necessary?
I replied to your other thread as well. Steel all day.
You can bolt it onto your existing box. If you use pvc, while it can work, it's not the greatest and sort of defeats the money you already spent on the hdpe. If you're going to use pvc coping, why not just have just used pvc all the way kind of thing.
You can drop a 2x4 down on each side of the, Drill holes through the one side of your steel tube so you can fit the bolts/screws. Then drill it into the side of your box. You can do drill it from the side so that you don't even have holes where your skis slide.
If you build your box strong enough and bolt the steel on solid, it will feel as solid as a box at the ski hill. I would def bolt it on though. You can screw your top sheet down but the steel is heavy. If you're only going to have it attached in a couple of places run bolts and get them nice and snug.
You likely won't be getting a ton of traffic in the backyard but if you get any burrs from hooking in your ski edge, just keep a file around and file it down till it's smooth again.
Just make sure you frame your box out well. You want it to be rock solid. Also make sure you do a decent job on the rungs that will support the top sheet. Might not be a bad idea to use 3/4 ply or double up. Probably unnecessary but why not. I've seen wooden boxes at ski areas that started to sag in the middle a bit. I'm not sure how they were framed but the box had a curve to it. The top sheet and coping were flush, but the middle was noticeably lower. It felt weird to surface swap.
If your framing doesn't suck and you bolt the steel on well, countersink your heads on the top sheet, and get everything flush, it should feel pretty much identical to the boxes at your resort.
Also if it gets sticky you can throw some silicone spray on it or just keep that shit moist.
i just woke up and my brain is stilll half asleep but good luck
does anyone know if this would work for a box I'd just get like an eighth inch thick and make sure the screw is under the plastic on each square because it is much cheaper in tiles. Just wanna know if its going to slide well
OFF3P
does anyone know if this would work for a box I'd just get like an eighth inch thick and make sure the screw is under the plastic on each square because it is much cheaper in tiles. Just wanna know if its going to slide well
It depends on the surface. Some stuff is smooth like a sheet normally. Some stuff is rougher like cutting board stuff. With it being pvc it's probably smooth.
As far as tiles, I def would not recommend them. It will work, but you want to limit seams as much as possible. Having a seam every foot the whole length is pretty excessive.
I know home depot used to have pvc sheets. Maybe see if your local has anything. Shipping on sheets is expensive. I think if you stay 4x4 and don't go 4x8 it can ship normally. But even a 4' length would be a lot better than 1'. If you can get a 4x8 sheet at your local that would be even better. Pretty easy to rip it down to whatever width box you're looking at.
Honestly you kinda want something for coping anyway so if you're gripping the edge you don't dig in. Might be easiest to just do smaller pvc all the way across the top. Sure it might not look as much like a box at the ski area but it will be cheaper, easier, and probably slide better.
If you do go with sheet/tiles be careful to get enough of the screw head in that it isn't sticking out but not too much that it blows out and the piece rips off over time. The thinner the sheet the harder.
I would def not go less than 8th inch. Even 8th is pretty thin. Any thinner you're probably better off gluing it to the ply and maybe screwing it in at the end of the sheet if it's a longer sheet.
The dirtbag box with all the pvc pieces works pretty well though. You can still surface swap and anything else. They slide fine, and it's easy/cheap material to come by.
theabortionatorIt depends on the surface. Some stuff is smooth like a sheet normally. Some stuff is rougher like cutting board stuff. With it being pvc it's probably smooth.
As far as tiles, I def would not recommend them. It will work, but you want to limit seams as much as possible. Having a seam every foot the whole length is pretty excessive.
I know home depot used to have pvc sheets. Maybe see if your local has anything. Shipping on sheets is expensive. I think if you stay 4x4 and don't go 4x8 it can ship normally. But even a 4' length would be a lot better than 1'. If you can get a 4x8 sheet at your local that would be even better. Pretty easy to rip it down to whatever width box you're looking at.
Honestly you kinda want something for coping anyway so if you're gripping the edge you don't dig in. Might be easiest to just do smaller pvc all the way across the top. Sure it might not look as much like a box at the ski area but it will be cheaper, easier, and probably slide better.
If you do go with sheet/tiles be careful to get enough of the screw head in that it isn't sticking out but not too much that it blows out and the piece rips off over time. The thinner the sheet the harder.
I would def not go less than 8th inch. Even 8th is pretty thin. Any thinner you're probably better off gluing it to the ply and maybe screwing it in at the end of the sheet if it's a longer sheet.
The dirtbag box with all the pvc pieces works pretty well though. You can still surface swap and anything else. They slide fine, and it's easy/cheap material to come by.
yea I need to check home depot or fleet farm again they always say they have big pvc sheets in stock at the store but none of the employees can ever find them and neither can I
yea 1/4 would be ideal because anything thicker is much more expensive
OFF3Pyea I need to check home depot or fleet farm again they always say they have big pvc sheets in stock at the store but none of the employees can ever find them and neither can I
yea 1/4 would be ideal because anything thicker is much more expensive
You shouldn't need thicker thsn 1/4. I haven't used pvc sheets so I'm not sure how ot reacts to UV but that's one of the issues with the thinner hdpe sheets. Also at ski areas getting more traffic thicker holds up better to the abuse.
