JD's Garage Micro
Finally, it was time to add the last layer to the ramp and complete the project. For the last skate layer I considered many surfaces. For a mini-ramp like this one Skatelite, Rampskin, and polyboard were just too expensive to get a hold of for my tastes. I'm sure any one of them would have been great to skate on, but I would have spent more on the final layer than I did on the rest of the entire ramp. Don't get me wrong, if you can afford it, then by all means fork out the money and build the best quality possible, but my budget was not unlimited.
Another surface I considered was Masonite. I've built ramps before using Masonite and many people swear by it over plain wood, but I decided Masonite was a little too slippery for what I wanted to skate. In the end I chose to surface the last layer using 4 sheets of the best 1/4" sanded plywood I could find. Again, worth noting is the fact that I applied it so that when I skated I'd be skating with the grain and not against it since it generally rides smoother that way. I love skating ramps at parks that use Skatelite, but in the eighties almost every ramp I grew up skating was surfaced with wood and I just like the way wood feels.
Here's a photo as I begin to apply the last layers of sanded 1/4" plywood.
If you look at the above two photos you'll notice I've fastened a strip of extra scrap 3/4" plywood to the ramp as a guide. I did this where I wanted my seams to be in the center of the ramp which helped me position each of the first two sheets more precisely. After attaching the sheets on one side of the ramp I removed the scrap strip of plywood and fastened the other side's sheets by butting them up against the ends of the first two.
Here's a photo as I'm about to attach the very last sheet of plywood to complete the ramp.
That's it! My ramp is done and there's not a thing I would have done differently. I love the way it skates, it fits perfectly in the garage, and now I'm skating it every day.
Here are some photos of the final product. Feel free to email me with any questions you might have if you're thinking about building your own ramp.
Final 1/4" Plywood Layer/Finished Ramp
I welcome you to email me with any questions you may have. Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps someone out there considering building a ramp of their own.