learned most of these lessons on my first ramp (through multiple modifications..) 2nd one came out soooo much better. spent a whole summer building a foundation for the 2nd one, dozens of 4x4" sunk in concrete-filled postholes. only tip missing here is the importance of foundation/surface you put the ramp on

back in 1990 in High school I had a friend who mail ordered Ramp Plans, maybe from Rad D Ramps? to build a quarter pipe... I borrowed them then saved up money to build a massive 16 foot wide, 5ft high, 10 ft of flat bottom half pipe with a 5 foot radius transition... Two major mistakes, the radius being too tight and that I only used two layers of quarter inch plywood, and not painting every piece before putting it together. Being in PA it lasted about 2 years. It was like a mini vert ramp, so I ended up cutting down one side to 4 ft. But it flowed smoothly while it lasted.

I am almost finished building my first mini ramp since the 80's. You guys ate providing a great service with these tips. What I saved designing and building myself is nothing compared to the pain and suffering of a 3 week build. Granted, it took that long because I an building it based on the locations of several large stumps of wood that give it a ton of weight, and it's 3'x12' built from 6 quarterpipes screwed together, so it is very heavy and hopefully a lot quieter once I box it in. Anyway. There are do many little things I doubt we did in the 80's and following your tips will make it so much better. If i ever sell this house, I am ordering my next one from you. 100%

barely sub 300 pound homie here, just grateful for you recognizing all skaters. 8:26

Don’t know why KZfaq decided I needed some ramp building lessons but I’m glad they did. Really enjoyed the video and you sharing your knowledge. I’ll never use it, but it was nice to watch!

You guys are freaking legends! This video is a cheat sheet for a build. Thank you!

This is the most helpful ramp build I’ve ever watched. Thanks guys! Respect.

Back in the 90s. A friend knee slide down a half pipe and hit a screw that was protruding. It tore a huge gash out of his knee. We could see his bone. Yuck!

masonite is fine indoors. I've had the same layer on my mini for 6 years. most people can't afford to eat theses days much less afford professional skate decking on their diy.

The Baltic birch is good stuff. I bought the completely wrong surface material and it delaminated quickly. Felt like skating on mud. A friend of mine had a Keen ramp that he resurfaced with Gator Skins so he gave me the old Birch. I hit it with spar urethane and it held up really well. Long enough I was able to put together the money for Gatorskins.

I wish the late 80’s Thrasher ramp plans had some of this info. We made the launch ramp and if you had decent speed you could take moon rock samples. 😂 A year later(we had no $ and winter)we built a long 15-20° launch and game changer.

This is amazing. I’m planning on building a mini ramp and I want it to be perfect. The tips on the coping are exactly what I was trying to figure out. Thank you!!!

thanks for the content! this is real is helpful stuff. i had a mini ramp as a kid and the dimensions were horrible. when i have the money, i'm getting a ramp from you guys.

This was actually really informative, thanks!

I remember a west 49 in my local mall had a mini ramp in it. They had to close down the store because the ramp was held together with deck nails. The person they contracted had no clue of skateboarding as some random guy from the sticks. Eventually a person fell on it and a nail hooked into the side of his leg and couldnt walk on it again. Because he signed a waiver, he couldnt sue.

Aye thanks for sharing the dope tips guys. Dad lessons no doubt

Y'all are so rad for sharing this.

This is a super dope video. Thanks

I’ve recently been playing with kerf cuts on ply to achieve some tight bends. If you cut your kerfs diagonally you can still get a good bend without water and it resists breaking a lot better.

Would love to hear more about radius, size of decking, coping offsets, etc. for BMX (as opposed to skateboard),

You need to go to ninja lifestyles ramp and tell him he doesn't know how to build a safe ramp 😂

Im looking forward to my first keen product.

I remember my buddy made a mini vert ramp out of cement in the corner of his back yard back in the early 2000s and it was sick as hell!!

I built a kicker a while back and ended up with the bottom (where the ramp meets the ground) too flat. Had to go back and re-cut the transition to fix it. Also bought a 3ft miniramp for a bargain price. After we started riding it we decided it seems like the transition was freehanded. There is a distinct spot on both walls where the bottom half of the transition meets the top half at an angle. It happens to be right in front of where your wheels hit on a drop in. The top half is way too steep tranny for a 3 footer. Makes for a difficult time. Good tips for people like me who forget to “measure twice, cut once.”

I appreciate the construction tips. Most kids building a quarter pipe don't have an extra thousand laying around to spend on skatelite and schedule 40 steel tubing. Lack of knowledge vs lack of money.

Do you have a tip for spacing out the screws between layers, so you don't end up screwing into a lower screw?

More videos like this please!!!! 🙏🤘

Timely as I need to reply my mini ramp... The T bag? Section for reinforcing at joins.. I definitely missed that as a concept when I first built. Hopefully I can remedy.

Wondering if that coping bump size is just for quarter pipes? Do you think 3/8ths on deck AND face would be better for mini ramps, os do you do 1/8th on face for those too? LMK! Thanks

Good stuff.

I need to get a keen ramps hoodie and rep the knowledge

my friend had a ramp that was so badly made. but we had such great sessions on it. both sides and the extension all had diffrent transition radius so its was wierd as hell. extention was like a 4 foot going to ver. it had PVC coping and it was supper flexy cause all the wood was too thin.

great video

Transition: smooth consistent arc. The flat bottom will be at the lowest point of the circle 2:02 Coping: Coping bump ⅛" on face ¼" on the top 2" inside diameter, schedule 40 pip, outside 2⅜" Harder, denser, thicker pipe = less grind resistance DON'T BUY thin grade fence post 3:40 Ribs Use the thinner face bit (the bit he is stamping on first at 4:26) of the wood to brace against the plywood Building qp 4 foot and higher use multiple sheets of plywood Bend the plywood horizontally not vertically 5:03 T bag wherever two bits of ply/material are meeting on the first layer of ply 5:50 QP surface ply material: Skate lite, ramp armor, gator skins, ¼" inch (5 ply) Baltic birchwood (avoid Home Depots) 1 inch of layer (Two layers of ⅜ CRX plywood) Tighter transition radius = thinner underlying layers Cut slits on back to allow it to bend more Final layer 1 inch skate light, ramp armor, gator skins 8:25 On final layer: counter-sink holes for screws to sit in Buy ½ inch counter-sink screw bit for no. 8 + no. 10 screws

Can you make a video about the benefits of beveled coping?

1:58 Ah you even said it! But It looks like your quarter pipes don't meet tangent with the ground - there's an abrupt transition. Same detail with OC Ramps. I don't understand why you truncate your side profile cuts, which causes such a steep transition. Extend the profiles out to tangent, and rip a 2x4 with a very steep angle to connect the tail ends of the side profiles 🤘

Go to a building site and take some scaffold bars for coping (in UK not sure if US uses same)😊

Love it bros.

Reading some of these comments 😮🫢😳😱 The damage (injuries) that improperly built ramps (screw heads sticking out) have done…! Some of these injuries were lifelong… Damn.

Where was this in 89 when I built my first 1/4 pipe. Damn thing was so steep it was totally unridable. 😂

❤

Bro, that’s a flex.

Legends

sweet

Stuffed crust

Taller ramps need more than 1/8 face reveal for coping. 3/16 makes a world of difference for bonking.

I have lost count of how many skate ramps I have built in my life

Me who will never build a ramp: 🤔 this is the good wisdom

The more you know

I've never seen someone put their fingers there while running a circ saw. Terrible idea for so many reasons.

SKATELITE CUTTING BOARD?!?!

Rad

Skatelite looks like Masonite with waterproof glue.

That is way bigger than a 6’ radius

it blow my mind every time i see Philips screws ... common united state there's better screw out there !!! Please try square screw just for once !

You are paying way too much for countersinks bits. MSC industrial supply

The term for scoring the back of the wood is "kerf". Kerfing plywood should be limited to only one layer of laminate material. It's also exceedingly important when curving to keep the spacing of the cuts consistent and perpendicular to the bend, any inconsistencies will cause it to bend on evenly or even crack at a kerf cut.

while building a quarter i got drunk and with some change i built a quinter ramp... where's the joke?

Masonite sucks. Too slippery

"We've seen it all and we know it all" Not a good attitude dude..theres always things to learn

35 yrs skating under my belt. Ive built ramps in houses for demos, in bike shops...I know a thing or two about fun. I cant think of anything gayer than buying a ramp. Ramps that are hard to skate make you a better skater. I feel like you build the Andy McDonald of ramps.

Its an accessory for a tool 😂