# Backyard Rail



## Phenom (Dec 15, 2007)

Here's an idea for one seeking free materials:

Go to a local establishment, this includes a nearby library, hospital, senior citizens' center, etc. (any public venue basically) and find a nice rail, bonus points for finding a kink rail. Take a hacksaw to the base of the supports and then just strap that baby to the roof of your car. Remember to hang a red flag from the rail while transporting it or else a cop will pull you over (you need that red flag, it's the law).

Easy, and free.


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

Phenom said:


> Here's an idea for one seeking free materials:
> 
> Go to a local establishment, this includes a nearby library, hospital, senior citizens' center, etc. (any public venue basically) and find a nice rail, bonus points for finding a kink rail. Take a hacksaw to the base of the supports and then just strap that baby to the roof of your car. Remember to hang a red flag from the rail while transporting it or else a cop will pull you over (you need that red flag, it's the law).
> 
> Easy, and free.


Haha, that's hilarious, so you better not forget the red flag to not get pulled over for transport, but stealing a handrail is ok :laugh:
Not knocking you, I just think thats funnier than shit.

Oh yeah, and fuck the hacksaw, get a cordless sawzall to fly through it. You could probably get a handrail removed in less than 10 minutes with one. On a side note I wouldn't reccomend using pvc because it will more than likely crumble under the weight of a human being, especially with the force you on a snowboard could throw at it.

I'd use wood if you don't know how to weld but if you came to me (I'm a welder) I could probably whip something up for you out of square metal tubing for around $100 and it would maybe take me all of 1 hour or so. Then you just need to skin it with whatever they put on those boxes to make them slick.

Check local welding shops and give them a rough drawing, you'd be suprised how quickly and inexpensively something like that could be built.


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2008)

My school has a fabrication shop with various welding and metalworking supplies, so if anyone could help me with how you would weld a rail together (ARC maybe?), i could get permission to build it as a side project and get my supplies from a scrapyard.


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

If you don't know how to weld I wouldn't reccomend a snowboard box or anything structural for your first project. See if the shop teacher can help you. Welding isn't exactly the type of thing you just pick up and do first try. You will be arc welding though, whether it is Mig, Flux, Stick etc. to answer your question. You will be welding on mild steel. Mig or Flux core would be your best bet because it is the easiest to learn.


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## Gnar_DUDE (Feb 18, 2008)

well PVC works somewhat and its cheap but the best solution i have found for making PVC stronger is getting 3-5 sizes that all fit inside each other snugly and then you have an (almost) solid pipe, use some PVC cement and you are good.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2008)

Gnar_DUDE said:


> well PVC works somewhat and its cheap but the best solution i have found for making PVC stronger is getting 3-5 sizes that all fit inside each other snugly and then you have an (almost) solid pipe, use some PVC cement and you are good.


I would just fill it with quickcrete if I went that route :dunno:


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2008)

Old Cutting boards will work well for the box, as long as the gaps between the boards are small.

With the rail, I like the PVC pipe idea.


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## snowsam17 (Jan 14, 2008)

me and a couple friends built a few boxes this summer using wood frames. we did use small metal rails for the coping, but they were easy enough to drill through with a powerdrill. also, we ordered polyethylene online for the top. it was a bit pricy but worth it, the stuff is slippery as fuck. 

we did all of this with almost zero experience and ended up with a couple of solid boxes. it didnt take long either. 

sorry i have no rail-building experience but i can give u more info on how to make these boxes if u want.


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

snowsam17 said:


> me and a couple friends built a few boxes this summer using wood frames. we did use small metal rails for the coping, but they were easy enough to drill through with a powerdrill. also, we ordered polyethylene online for the top. it was a bit pricy but worth it, the stuff is slippery as fuck.
> 
> we did all of this with almost zero experience and ended up with a couple of solid boxes. it didnt take long either.
> 
> sorry i have no rail-building experience but i can give u more info on how to make these boxes if u want.


Where did you order the polythylene?? I've been trying to get ahold of some because I am in the process of building a little flatrail at work, I just don't have anything to skin it with.


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## alaric (Aug 28, 2007)

Composite decking material works really well also. Check into it


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

Oh perfect, I think I could get two sticks of trex for about $20. I could probably even hot wax it :laugh: Thanks for the idea, I'll probably give it a shot. I'll post pics when I get it all finished up.


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## joeydzzle (Jan 30, 2008)

yeah i'm gunna try and build a box tonight too. i got 5 sheets of hdpe off of ebay. hopefully that'll be good enough for a top. Any suggestions if it isn't? what can i use to make it slicker (and sicker HARHARHARHAR)


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## snowsam17 (Jan 14, 2008)

Mr. Right said:


> Where did you order the polythylene?? I've been trying to get ahold of some because I am in the process of building a little flatrail at work, I just don't have anything to skin it with.


i never bought any so i dont know specifics, but i think my friend got it off a website. so google that shit and see what u can find.


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## alaric (Aug 28, 2007)

hdpe will be plenty slick as far as i know 

/oh muh god 999 post. i better make the next one good.


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## joeydzzle (Jan 30, 2008)

Me and my bro built this yesterday. Its 8 feet and the top is HDPE (picked it up off of ebay).


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2008)

they're probably way to expensive unless you make 'em yourself, but I'm thinking something like a gymnasium balance beam ought to be perfect for a backyard terrain park?


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2008)

theres gotta be someplace to buy pre made hand rails (like actual hand rails) that u cud just stick into some kind of a solid support... they'd prolly be pretty big though if you went that route..

I've been thinking of doing this for some time, but the snow I ended up getting this season is telling me not to bother... lol.


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## alaric (Aug 28, 2007)

apoc4lypse said:


> theres gotta be someplace to buy pre made hand rails (like actual hand rails) that u cud just stick into some kind of a solid support... they'd prolly be pretty big though if you went that route..



There are premade rails you can get, but they're wicked expensive. A 4ft rail can be between $100-$150. It's a rip.


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## Guest (Feb 28, 2008)

If you made a wooden base, couldn't you mill out a groove and just put a large piece of pipe in there? glue it if you really want to....

Let's see if I can ascii draft this here:

.. _
_/. \_
|.\_/.|
|......|
-------

The view is a cross-section, the hexagonal shape representing the pipe, the saddle being the wooden base. Throw a few coats of varnish on the wood for water resistance and I think it may work. There shouldn't be issues with the board touching the base given a large enough diameter pipe and the fact that you'd be falling off by then anyways. Plus you could round off the edges of top of the wooden base structure.
Sound idea? or am I way off my rocker?

ok had to edit, ignore the dots...for some reason the forum didn't like my formatting.
If you can't understand what I "drew" I can try to get a gif or jpeg up.

edit again...i see this idea has already been mentioned....
Would scrapyards be a good place to find rails? Or dumpsters behind machine shops?


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

TNT said:


> If you made a wooden base, couldn't you mill out a groove and just put a large piece of pipe in there? glue it if you really want to....
> 
> Let's see if I can ascii draft this here:
> 
> ...



Honestly as a welder, I'm going to say that is a lot of work. If you had a few pieces of metal you cut by yourself with a sawzall, or a skilsaw with a metal blade any welder should be able to throw together a simple single rail in less than an hour, and for a narrow box (12" or so) maybe 2 hours. If you are going super duper cheap and have the material, I don't think your idea would be a bad route. If you have any good welding shops you may be able to find something but at our shop we usually cut the stuff to pieces right when we get it. Check with a place that does a lot of commercial remodels, you might be able to find some type of rail for free.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2008)

hey i like the pvc idea. would acrylic work as a top sheet?


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2008)

If you have an older board that can become your 'backyard jib board', and that's all you're going to use it for, go ahead and fully file down the edges. Then you can use just about anything for your rails without worrying about catching your edges. For example, PVC pipes make a much less expensive box-edge than metal pipes.


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## Peaceryder (Nov 21, 2011)

Phenom said:


> Here's an idea for one seeking free materials:
> 
> Go to a local establishment, this includes a nearby library, hospital, senior citizens' center, etc. (any public venue basically) and find a nice rail, bonus points for finding a kink rail. Take a hacksaw to the base of the supports and then just strap that baby to the roof of your car. Remember to hang a red flag from the rail while transporting it or else a cop will pull you over (you need that red flag, it's the law).
> 
> Easy, and free.


Theft is not the answer and seriously what if it was your grandma needing to use that hand rail! I just went to my local hockey rink a few days ago and picked up enough (FREE) puckboard to build a box 13" * 8ft. 1/2 inch thick stuff..

P.s. You can still drop by the Library and read up on respecting your elders and community  Sow good seeds and reap the good stuff!


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## Tech420 (Jul 1, 2011)

Peaceryder said:


> Theft is not the answer and seriously what if it was your grandma needing to use that hand rail! I just went to my local hockey rink a few days ago and picked up enough (FREE) puckboard to build a box 13" * 8ft. 1/2 inch thick stuff..
> 
> P.s. You can still drop by the Library and read up on respecting your elders and community  Sow good seeds and reap the good stuff!


You're posting in a thread from 2008


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

:laugh: I've done that before....


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## Peaceryder (Nov 21, 2011)

slyder said:


> :laugh: I've done that before....



LMAO, omg. I searched google for snowboardingforum and on the opening page it had this thread. Hilarious


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## Pipes (Jan 30, 2012)

me and my buddy are building a rail. we are making an a frame out of 2X4's the just screwing two 1-1/2" PVC pipes to the top 2X4. the pipes will hold because they are have a small diameter but with the same thickness of plastic. it will be light and under $50


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## Snowottawa (Sep 21, 2012)

snowboard puckboard

I got the roll of puckboard and it works great, Also a lot cheaper then the thick plastic


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## SnowOwl (Jun 11, 2012)

Made this the other day, plan on clamping some PVC once I get better on it for more practice


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