How to Build a skateboard rail

Having your own grind rail to practice skateboarding on at home is a great idea. You can store it in your garage, and pull it out when you want to use it.

A lot of skaters just buy pre-made grind rails. These are great, but they can cost a bit and aren't always exactly what you might want. Building your own grind rail is a lot easier you might think!

What you need to build it;
1.One 6.5 foot long piece of rectangular steel
2.Two pieces of 2 foot long square steel
3.Two pieces of 3 inch flat steel that are a foot or more long

That's all the materials you'll need - so you can see this isn't going to cost that much at all!

Next you need to figure out how you are going to weld the rail together. If you or your kids are students, you might be able to use the tools in your school's metal working class. Just ask the teacher. They can also help you with making sure you do the welding part correctly.
You can weld it together yourself, but if you've never done it before, then you'll need to learn how.




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Jake Burton Bio

This is why Burton is the biggest and most successful snowboard company on the planet.

Snowboarding has changed a lot in the past year, let alone in the past 34 years since Jake founded Burton Snowboards. One thing has stayed constant during all that time: Jake still leads the day-to-day workings of the world's most successful snowboard company, testing nearly every product Burton makes and taking rider feedback to heart. He is still relentless when it comes to listening to riders - whether it's feedback from the global team, a customer email or a kid who happens to sit with him in the gondola. He still walks Burton's halls almost everyday, saying hi to the dogs along the way and seeing what's up in Rider Service, Hardgoods, Softgoods, Sales and Marketing. He still has team riders over to his house for a four-day roundtable to give the final word on the entire product line. He still scrutinizes the catalog before it goes to print and leaves product managers note cards with feedback on zippers, waterproofing, fits, flexes, colors and board feel. He still can be found at Stowe almost every day it's open - and plenty of days it's not - hiking with his dog Maia to enjoy a rare two feet of fresh powder in mid-May or the first snowfall in late September. And he still makes many of the company's biggest decisions from a chairlift, not a desk chair.
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How to Build a skateboard half pipe

Instructions.Things You'll Need:

Skatelite for the surface, Plywood supports 2-inch galvanized wood deck screws 3-inch galvanized wood deck screws 3-inch lag screws Washers

1 Decide on the width of your ramp and then cut the first piece of skatelite to the appropriate width. Cut it to a length such that it will take seven sheets to complete the curve of your pipe. This will allow for a smooth ride up the side of the ramp.



2 Create X-bracing to support the curve of your ramp. These supports will make sure the ramp doesn't fall apart or collapse once the weight of a skater is added. The dimensions should be the same height and width as the curve of your ramp.



3 Take the four large skatelite pieces and cut them to the exact slope that you want your ramp to have. Be sure to cut it as smoothly as possible, as any bump will make it more difficult to skate. It should have the same height dimensions as the X-bracing.



4 Now stand the braces up, and then screw the curved plywood pieces to them, one on either side. Repeat the process for the second set of braces.



5 Take the long support beams and start screwing them in, so that they follow the curve laid out by the plywood templates.



6 Take the seven sheets of skatelite we cut in step one, and screw them onto the supports we assembled in step five. What you should now have is a skateable floor that follows a gradual curve until it reaches vertical.



7 Take the remaining skatelite and start to create more X-bracing. The dimensions should be such that there is ample room between the two curves of the pipe, but not so much that the skater looses speed traveling between them.



8 Lay the braces flat, and start layering more supports through them, screwing them together such that you create a platform.



9 Lay the skatelite flat across the platform support structure and screw it down. You should now have a plywood box with a skateable surface on top.



10 Place the completed curve on one end of the platform and screw it down. Repeat it for the other side. You now have a completed half pipe.
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Definition of Skateboarding

Skateboarding is the act of riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. A person who skateboards is most often referred to as a skateboarder, or colloquially within the skateboarding community, a skater.


Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an artform, a job, or a method of transportation.[1] Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report by American Sports Data found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. 85 percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.[2]

Skateboarding is relatively modern. A key skateboarding maneuver, the ollie, was developed in the late 1970s by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand as a half-pipe maneuver. Freestyle skateboarder Rodney Mullen was the first to take it to flat ground and later invented the kickflip and its variations. [3]
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Definition of Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a sport that is loosely described as “surfing” in the snow and can be dated back to at least the 1960s in its earliest development, when it was a much cruder sport with very elementary equipment. However, when snowboarding made its debut at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan, it became one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. Snowboarding now holds the interest of over 7 million participants in the U.S. alone, and many skiers and skateboarders have crossed over to this no longer crude extreme sport.

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Skiing vs. Snowboarding for beginners

Skiing vs Snowboarding


For those of you heading up to the slopes for the first time, you may be trying to decide if you should try skiing vs snowboarding. Or perhaps you're an accomplished skier and you've decided to give snowboarding a go.

In this article, we'll attempt to break down the differences between the two sports so that you can make an informed decision and also be aware of how fast you can realistically expect to progress with your current skiing skills.

Differences Between the Skiing vs Snowboarding

Skiing and snowboarding are alike in that they are both downhill and are both the source of countless hours of fun and exhilaration Some of the differences, however, that you'll find between them include:

Snowboard riders constantly have to sit or exert energy to remain on edge while they are stationary. Unlike skiing, you will not have poles to help you remain upright and standing when you are not moving.

Snowboarding is a lot easier on the knees compared to skiing. Knee injuries are not as common in snowboarding as they are in skiing. Snowboarding can be hard on your wrists so make sure you wear some wrist guards.

You'll start to develop a deep hatred for flats when you're starting out with the snowboard. Again, you won't have your ski poles to bail you out.

You will, however, begin to fall in love with deeper and softer snow. Snowboards work nicely in powder and crud while skis are better in bumps and ice.

Getting up after a fall on a snowboard is a skill in itself but once mastered should prove to be easier and faster than having to put your stuff together again after falling on skis.

If you're just looking for speed, more speed and nothing but speed, you may be surprised to know that given a skier and boarder of equal ability, skiing beats snowboarding virtually each time in terms of velocity.

Since this isn't a science website, we can't get into the physics involved which explain why skiing has an edge. Suffice to say that if you were to compare speed records for both skiers and boarders, the skiers will always be faster.

Skiing has also exploded onto the park scene with skiers having the ability to bigger and faster than any snowboarder. In the 2005 super pipe Winter X Games, Simon Dumont, a skier, went 22 feet out of the pipe while Shawn White, a snowboarder, only achieved 16 feet. 

From Skiing to Snowboarding

So you've been skiing for several years and you've decided that it's time for a change. Around the resorts you see people having the time of their lives on snowboards and your friends certainly think you should give it a go.

So, should you? Is it hard? Will all those years of skiing make it easier to learn? The answer is probably yes, to a certain extent. Apart from being familiar with the mountain resort environment and being comfortable with descending fast, as a skier you would also be familiar with the concepts of edging and carving.

As with other beginners, you'd be best served with investing in some lessons or at least doing some reading to get an idea of the basic maneuvers involved with snowboarding. Expect to end up with a sore backside and/or a mouth full of snow during the initial stages.

Many skiers do, in fact, report to have progressed much further in their first few days of snowboarding than they did with skiing within a similar time frame back in their early days. This, of course, varies between individuals with some claiming that there is absolutely no difference in the amount of time it takes to become proficient in one or the other.

You can, therefore, expect to reach the intermediate stage without too many hassles. Beyond that, however, you'll have to put in the miles just as you do, or have done, with skiing. Don't expect to be carving up those double black diamond runs like a pro in just a few days.

Couldn't have said it better myself.
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Can't wait to snowboard???

If you aren't already itching to strap up your board, you will be this weekend!


This Friday, October 15th, RIDE Shakedown is proud to present the premiere of Now You Know, Sandbox's sixth production. Once again, the crew does what they do best, taking you outside your average snow park and into their playground. The film boasts epic cliffs, drops and hits from the likes of Rube Goldberg, Nash Lajeunesse, Andrew Hardingham, Max Ritchie, Kael Hill, Jake Koia… and the list goes on!

If you're out in Toronto (or down for the road trip), come meet us at The Social for the premiere at 10pm followed by a night of partying with the Eh! Team Djs; DJ Drastik & Tom Wrecks. Sandbox's own Kevin Sansalone will be attending along with a long list of featured pro-riders including Beau Bishop, Mikey Rencz, and Dustin Craven.

Thinking of staying in Montreal that night? Be sure to hit up the equally promising premiere of Fuck It, brought to you by Special Blend, Forum and Foursquare, at club 1234. DJ A-Rock will be in the house as well as pro-riders Nic Sauvé, Pat Moore, John Jackson, Niko Cioffi and Andreas Wiig. Want an autograph? The boys will be at Empire on St. Antoine doing a signing beforehand.

Doors open at 10pm for both events and will last well into the night, so get ready to party. Tickets are 10$ at the door.

Hope to see you there.
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