EXP RAMP

New Site!!!

2010-03-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

SO I moved all my blogs and websites to a one stop shop. Check out www.loushieldsart.com for all of my stuff!!

Thurs sesh

2008-11-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

We got together last Thursday to sesh the ramp. I skated for a total of 25 min at the end of the day. I got a little obsessed with building additional decks and ladders... But Mike Callhan, Cappetto, Owen and Little were all there ripping the stuff up!

First official sesh - Sunday Sunday Sunday Bears loose - Lou Wins!!

2008-11-10T15:56:00.001-08:00

Sunday, I wanted to get the metal coping reset and replace the shitty pieces of masonite in the flat. But, when the dudes showed, they had one thing on the mind. SHRED! So yes, I agree - a virgin vert ramp indoors when it is 35 degrees and drizzle. Yes, this is what I have been waiting for!

Mike Callhan -

So I temporarily screwed down the deck and got some minor details worked out and the dudes started to ride. Cappetto, Mike Callahan, Jordon, Danny, Pat and USA Kevin were all on hand for the first official session. I was really apprehensive about the whole thing. I was so afraid that I was gonna hit the truss by dropping in or just kick turning. I was having nightmares all week about it.

After a long warm up period I finally dropped in on the side with the most room. then after a few more runs it was the short side. But my big ass still had 2' of clearance. It will scare the crap out of you though. I think it was mostly because we were the first to do it all and it is always scarey. Jordon had no problem doing 50/50s, lean to tails, inverts, etc. He even got a nice 2' air, clean and safe.

Callahan was ripping too, unit 540s and all the madness that is the Callahan. It was all starting to emerge. I think we were all just testing the boundaries today. Trying to see what was possible and what is not. But I think it will work. You just have to be very mindful of the truss and believe me, when you get up on the deck and look at them, you will. It is a huge test of faith to drop in but no problem at all.

I am really happy with the ramp itself. The flat feels just right, the transitions are tight but not terrible and the height is just right. It is what I was goin' for! I just have to do more detail work, and get things right in the barn now. Also, if any engineers out there could give advise on moving/modding the truss for more clearance it would be much appreciated!!

Thanks to all for your support and come down and shred with us!!

My only rule is do not show up when I am not shredding or unless you are in the know about a session. I do not live here and the barn will be locked. If you trespass, you may get your leg gnawed off by the dogs or worse, have to deal with my dad and his 12 gauge. It is not a threat, it is reality... You may just be haunted by the possum .

details, details

2008-11-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

So after the first prelim sesh I learned that there are many many things that still need to be done. Friday and Saturday were spent securing the decks and getting some plywood along the truss on concrete coping side. That way we wont fall off the back. I had to lots of things to make it less scarey.

The place is just dangerous right now and I need to do a lot of things to make it safe. Callahan popped out way to far on an air and bonked his head on the truss. I was seriously bummed about this. I have been worried about this problem since the beginning. He ollied out instead of up. I decided to pad up the truss on both sides so when this happens it wont be such a big deal. He did not get hurt and just fell to flat. If you ollie out - that is what happens anyway - stay in the transition.

So we have lots to learn here. I also put the lights up so everything works for a night sesh. I just need to figure out the heat situation because it suddenly turned into winter here.

Gettin' it down and makin' it happen

2008-11-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, this has been a long 8 weeks. Yes, I worked my ass off and Yes, it is done!! I got a few things done on Tuesday and then Mike Callahan and Cappetto came by and worked with me all day Thursday. We plyed the hell out of that damn thing people!! Dave came by too to offer some support and by 2:00 the masonite was down!

I had to do the wrong but right thing for now and put down three shitty pieces in the flat. One was an 1/8" instead of 1/4", and two others were busted. I did pick up the replacements on Saturday and will get them in this week so it will all look good. But as for now the ramp is ready!

Mike Owen showed up around noon and after we got it all together, Mike, Mike and Cappetto were shredding! I was still obsessed with getting the details finished and could barely concentrate. I took two runs and slammed across the flat both times. My trucks are soooooo loose that I am just not used to going fakie. Ha!

I still gots more to do this weekend.

keep plyin'

2008-11-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! the ramp is getting closer and closer to completion!! I worked Saturday and Sunday this week. My usual Thursday and Friday time went to building furniture for my new place.. More on that on the other site.

A bunch of dudes were supposed to show but it was just me and Mike Callahan on Saturday. We got most of the second layer on. Not bad for just two people.

Sunday Dave Marevka and Pipefitter Mike came out early! And then Danny and Cappetto emerged and we had a good crew. Mike brought us some killer black pipe for the north end. Now I know some are not too happy with two different kinds of coping but if you want it a certain way - go build your own ramp... That is what I did!

SO anyway, Mike was dealing with my welder all day - it turns out that I had a spring missing on the spool and it was causing the mechanism to bind up while he was welding. SO what should have been an hour job took him all morning. Sorry Mike! But he did a great job!

Dave, Danny, Cappetto and I worked on finishing the second layer. Once we got all that done, it was time for a little second layer sesh. Of course, Dave did all the tricks that I'll be working on all winter! And this was with all of the beams and garage door supports still in the way!! Good stuff!

SO our next task was to remove all that stuff. Dave and I came up with a compromise on the center beam. We cut out the sections that lay above the lip of each ramp end. But to keep the barn from twisting in high winds we cut out notches at either end of a 2 x 6 and made a quick release support. So when I want to skate I pop it out and when I am done, I pop it back into place and that center tie beam serves the same purpose. I think this should be good! We also cut off those roll up door rails. So we all get to keep our foreheads now!

After that, it was time for Masonite!! I wanted to hang each piece from the coping down and then have the half sheet in the center of the ramp. This is a pain, you need at least 3 dudes to hang one sheet of masonite. I kept thinking I wonder what they do for a 15 footer! We ended up getting the south end of the ramp done and hope to finish it on Thursday or Friday!!

Mike got the coping ready and we also installed that at the very end of the day. He is a pipefitter so the job was done very well! He welded bolts on to one end and we bolted the coping into the ramp. This way there are no holes in the coping. sweet!! He did a great job on that one thanks again Mike!! And to all the dudes who came out again. This phase would be very difficult on my own.

More ply More ply Sunday Sunday

2008-10-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have a special post on the other blog expskate.blogspot.com. Check it and consider. Once this thing is finished, I'll be posting on there. This is just for the construction phase.

I got up bright and early this morning, headed out of the city with the Calabro van and picked up the masonite. I picked up Callahan and paid $2.65 a gallon for gas! Yes people, Lowell, IN. So today, driving the gas guzzler was not so bad. Nick was there when we arrived and the three of us got to work. All was going well, I did mess up and had to cut down two rows of ply. I swear that I measured it all but master carpenter I am NOT!

We were making good time this morning and had one quarter pipe nearly done and I had just started the other side when Dave and Mike arrived. Dave pointed out the obvious (thank goodness). I did not arrange the plywood so each end was bordering on transition a transition template or support. We had them centered on each 2 x 4 but not on the seam between two sheets. The way I had it was more economical board and $$ wise but there was a danger of breaking through, even with three layers.

This was very difficult to do but we had to take everything off! But then we got lucky because Danny, Eric and Juan showed up and we had like 7 dudes and 7 drills and 14 hands!!! So, they got to work pulling the plywood off the ramp and I tried to keep up cutting the boards down. I had to cut them all down because I had two 6' wide Q-pipes and a 94 1/4" Q-pipe. It was a lot of extra work but now I can sleep easy because we did the right thing.

Once that initial pain in the nether regions began to fade it was buisiness as usual. We all did our part and put in 100%. I am totally grateful to all that showed today and yesterday. Thanks a big bunch dudes!! You all totally rock!

So we got cranking. My cuts were not the greatest but I did what I could. Juan had to do some surgery on one of the transition templates. I had a bump that was causing part of the seam to rise 1/2" out. So he took a hammer and chisel and chewed it back to about 3/16". I did sand the edges and when I had all the templates piled up they seemed to be true. I was really bummed about that one too. You do all of that work and when the plywood goes on all of the problems reveal themselves! Eric pointed out that I am not TEAM PAIN. And he is right, I actually felt better after he said that.

I did my best and you have to learn from each experience. I was working with a lot of donated/found wood that had to be dealt with as is and space limitations are in effect as well. So I couldn't just blast away with three true 8' Q-pipes and have it all work out. If I had to do it all over again, I still couldn't do that because the space does not allow a 24' wide ramp...

Anyway, everyone is stoked on the ramp now and that makes me very happy!! Dave couldn't help himself and jumped in on the ramp while we were still plying it! He was blasting past 2 x 4s, saw dust, drills and screws!! Pretty gnar. He rips it for sure! SO we were getting some little runs in as things were winding down. I know you are not supposed to ride with only one ply but these dudes were getting pretty jonesed out!

So for this week, we ended up with the first layer down. It should go much faster now since I won't have to do so many cut downs with the next layer. I will however need to get more 3/8s because of all the cutting but no biggie. Just more $$. ugh

I am really happy with the way it is all turning out. And nobody bonked their head on the truss, yet! I will have to figure out the bracing once the center board is cut out. More to come!

I have some footy of Dave with the first run!

50 sheets and ready 10/22-25

2008-10-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

This week was all about getting the ramp ready for plywood. I got pretty sick on Tuesday so no work there. I was actually out there trying to do some work but the world was spinning and my breakfast kept flying out of my mouth. Not too fun!! But I am feeling way better now!

Thursday was spent doubling up the flat and getting more of the odds and ends tied up. Friday was very busy - had a Doc apt and then looked at an apartment which I took by the way!! Oh yes! Independence once again!

Friday afternoon, I went to pick up 40 sheets of 3/8" for the first two layers of the ramp. I had 10 already so I hope this will be enough. Most of those 10 are odd sheets though? I guess MR Karate used all the good and true 4' x 8' sheets to build the bank at the carwash?

Just as I arrived, a total down pour was in full form. I was so pissed that I just baja'd the van straight on back to the barn. (Not really but I was really worried all day that it would rain and then I would get stuck back there!) When I brought the first load of wood, it rained all weekend. I had to trailer it back with the lawn mower and a tarp. But luckily the ground was firm enough and the rain stopped for a bit!

So I got it all unloaded and ready for Saturday. My old buddy Dave Marevka came by to check out the ramp - he was stoked!

I am staying in the city all week cat sitting. So I had to head back to Bryn Mar after Man-Night at Eric's place. A very long day! I got back around 9am Saturday morning. I was kinda out of it, I could not sleep last night! All I could think about was the ramp. I was a bit worried about the truss situation again and may have to support the 3 inner truss once I take out the center beam.

I got a bunch done early - tying the north deck all together with the ramp and finishing all of that off. I also double braced the lower most transitions. I started to get worried about that. Mike Callahan showed up around noon and Pat sk8 appeared soon after so I got some great help today!! Thanks!

After much piddling around on my part I finally got the first layer of plywood going. It was really slow at first but once we got going it began to flow well. We got the flat bottom plyed and a few of the drills went dead and we were running out of time for the day. So, I called it. But we did take the form off of the concrete coping!

It was like X-mas day! only EVIL! The pour came out pretty RAD. There is only one spot where the 'crete did not separate properly and I have some pitting from the rocks falling out. I will patch that part up but the rest appears to be good. I'll have to do some polishing and grinding but for the most part, the coping seems to look like it should! I am gonna dream about that coping tonight!

So it was a good days work and more dudes are supposed to show tomorrow!! SO I hope we can get more progress 2mro!!!!! Thanks again to Mike and Pat!

Pour that coping FOO! 10/19

2008-10-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

Finally the moment I have been dreaming about!! Let me tell you I lay awake many nights dreaming about doing some concrete work!! I so wish that I could score a summer job next year working for one of the crews out there and just pouring pools! Well, this is my first so hopefully it will work out!!

I got up bright and early this morning with one thing in mind, pour that coping boy! I got my wheel barrel out, a shiny new bucket, an empty 1 gallon milk jug and a stack of Quickcrete! I was ready to go! So the first batch well, it was windy and half of my material went across the land. SO I got smart the second time around and closed the barn door! It gets windy out here.

I mixed up according to directions and then added a little more water to get that nice workable mud. I hooked up my ladder so it was right next to wheel barrel. My plan was to shovel the crete into the bucket and carry it up the latter and dump the crete into the form. This went very well. It would have been less taxing with two or three guys there but for a one man show all was well!!.

I had fun using my little concrete trough and giggling the concrete into place. I had to shake the ramp and pound on the form with a hammer and 2 x 4. I eventually realized that if I ran the jigsaw on the edge of the ramp, that would get the vibrating feel a bit better to consolidate the crete. I'll do that next time I guess.

But all in all it went well. I did run out though, I was one bag short, so I had to rush out and get another. But the air bubbles started to come up and I giggled it again and it seems to be setting up pretty well. I just hope it stays up there and doesn't crack up and send little rocks flying everywhere on the ramp...

Build the forms - cook it up! 10/18

2008-10-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

I must say that I have been feeling it all week. I think that with work, we are just finishing week 8 (midterm) and I am feeling that wearyness as well as all the work I put into the ramp and then skating on top of it all!! I just wish I had more energy and more time! I need to make art and play my guitar too!! I am looking forward to finishing this goliath so that I can get back to it all!!

random northewest

For Saturday, I finished up some odds and ends on the decks and suddenly realize, shit, I gotta get to working on that coping!! I got up really early, borrowed the carry all and headed out for supplies. 4 bags of commercial grade 5000 PSI Quickcrete, 12 2 x 4 x 8s, two boxes of screws and two 2 x 4 x 10s. I am in the nickel and dime-ing stage where you just get this here and that there and you spend 100bucks!

oregon

I spent the rest of Saturday building the form for the blessed concrete coping on the south end! I guess I wanted concrete coping on the south end so I could make an ode to Slayer every time I slash that shit! "South Of Heaven" is the entire embodiment of a frontside slasher on concrete coping!!

I got a bunch of info from this dude who goes by TheCreature on Concrete Disciples. Big thanks to that dude, whoever, where ever you come from!! That is the cool thing about the web! I also looked some stuff up on Old Man Army. There is so much good info on both of those sites. I am forever grateful!!

So I tried to use the best ideas from all the sources I had. I went with the 5000psi high early strength Quickcrete. I was reading all kinds of stuff about how stuff doesn't set up or it chunks out as if you ride it too soon. I got the Commercial Grade because it sounds like it might be strong? But it probably is just for fast setting shit. I just hope it doesn't chunk out. We'll have to just shred it and see I guess.

So I got it all formed up on Saturday. I cut a piece of 2" PVC in half with a circular saw. Then screwed each piece from the inside to a long strip of 3/4" plywood. In the future I would go with 1/2" cause that shit is heavy.

The ironic thing is the plywood I chose was originally used to form the foundation of my parents house! I love putting that personal shit into construction of ramps. As I said before, I have wood from the original ramp from when I was a kid in this thing (just a piece or two).

I am using 2 x 4s to space the form out from the ramp surface. I have not put the plywood on the ramp yet so this plus a layer of 1/4" masonite gave me 1 3/4" of coping off the lip. SO when you subtract the surface of the ramp the coping should stick out somewhere around 5/8" - 3/4". I hope!!

Once I got the form built I used the old wood clamps to get the 2 x 4 x 10s up near the lip. Once they were in place I screwed them in. It is so nice to have clamps around when you need a 3rd and 4th hand! Clamps rule!!

I had to use the tie downs again to actually repel the form off of the lip! It was just dangling there. The funny thing about the weight was that since the already heavy 3/4" was used to pour the foundation, it was impregnated with concrete. The shit is soooo heavy that I could barely get the form up on the deck!

But as you can see, it all worked out in the end. I screwed it all together and it actually turned out Ok!

I have a nice bed to lay the concrete and form up some GRRRRALP!

all decked out 10/16

2008-10-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

I have been working on the decks all week. I started on Tuesday and worked all day Thursday and Friday. With afternoon/evening sessions at Wilson of course! It has been a bit of a draggy week though. No big sessions or anything. Kind of a bummer, more of the same as the outdoor season dies down. I keep missing the morning sessions so my buddies are no where to be seen!!

The decks were pretty straight forward. I did have to cut them down a bit. I stretched out the flat bottom to a true 16' but I had assembled them before I made that decision. The north deck is screwed into the 6 x 6" posts that are part of the barn frame. I made a joist hanger out of 2 x 6" and have the back rail laying on that. The rest of the frame is supported by vertical posts. The decks are made out of 2 x 6s that I had laying around. Mostly scrap wood or old wood but it is sturdy.

The south deck was a little tricky. I had to hang it up with tie downs and slowly swing it into space. It was too heavy to prop up and with only one body and two hands I couldn't do it all at once. So the beam and roll up door rails came in handy. I am glad that I didn't cut them out just yet!!

I used these 3" x 7" rough cut cherry beams for the vertical supports. My father got them from somewhere 30 years ago. We had a bunch more but one of his work buddies bought them off of him years ago. The shit my dad used to have, he either gives it away, lets it rot or burns it. Strange!

SO after I got all that together, I realized I had one sturdy but ugly ass deck! The old posts are gnarly as hell, even warped and bowed out. They must be 100 years old!! But they are so strong still! I think I am gonna cover them up because I used brandy new wood for everything else and the frame looks sooooo sweet. It is solid though so no worries people!

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2008-10-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got the frame together. After many weeks I can look at the ramp and get a true feel for what it will be. I spent the morning leveling off the North end of the ramp. I had some trouble though. The metal shelves were taking up about 1/2” that I needed. The frame for the barn was sticking out a bit and left no room to move the shelves back. SO I had to notch them out. This took about 2 hours.

What a big pain, especially because I had to work with the barn closed up to avoid another allergy attack. It was like really hot in there today. Especially working with the grinder and getting in an enclosed spot under the transition.

After all that, the flat bottom was easy enough to level off. I will have to do some shifting though. The North Quarter pipe is shifted about 1 1/2" to the East. Close enough though, I'll just have to mush it over a bit.

So for next week, I’ll have to finish getting the bricks in throughout the entire frame. I also need to figure out the 8’ sections of flat. I was not anticipating the raising of the whole ramp. I’ll need to do some bracing. I may double brace every two or?? Research.

I hope to have the decks installed by the end of next week and begin pouring the coping and getting the metal coping together as well. Then it will be time to get the plywood and masonite. I’ll need some help sheeting the ramp so whoever can spare some time – chime in…

Flat Bottom ugh ugh

2008-10-11T15:13:00.001-07:00

I watched Fight Club with Man Night Eric and now all I want to do is kick my own ass! Well, I kinda did this morning. I have been having so many allergy attacks lately that I finally broke down and got some of that Zyrtech and it made my head spin the last few days. So I have been a bit off.

This morning when I got out to the ramp I climbed up to the top to measure the distance between the lip and the rafter. As I was climbing up I went to grab for the 2 x 4" on top and it was a 2 x 10" so I missed the grab and fell backwards. As I was decending in a panic, trying to run down the 2 x 4" surface I slipped my foot between two of them and immediately went into leg slap mode. SO luckily I kinda loosened up and pushed up with my arms and torso, trying to relieve the pressure my weight would have put on my leg. So, I did not hear a snap. But I was kinda jacked up from that one. I got some nice swelling and my ankle is all week now. Nice.

So after I got my shit back together, I climbed up again and telling myself to grab for a 2 x 10". My fears of yesterday and the past caught up with me. The ramp was too close to the joist. SHit. SO, the only thing to do was to wipe yesterday's work clean and move the ramp back. It is going to work a lot better though. I decided to move the quarter pipe section back enough to allow for 16' of flat. Which I really needed anyway. I was just trying to get more deck on that side and had to deal with the rails for the roll up door.

SO I am only gonna have 3' of deck on that side and will just cut off the rails all together. I'll weld them back up later. But now, the flat should be good and hopefully everything will line up.

I spent the rest of the morning re-leveling that whole side and getting it square. Then I had to extend the flat out 9 1/2". I decided to just take apart the whole thing and add longer rails to each flat bottom piece. I didn't want to risk adding a new smaller piece in and then have it shift or crack and later get a kink in the ramp. So I did the pain in the ass thing, but the better thing for the ramp.

I was able to level out half of the flat too so then I feel like I made a little progress today. I got a true 16' of flat, no future head smacks on the joists and a level ramp.

Tomorrow, I'll level off the rest of it and try to get the decks secured to the ramp.

Also, I started to get another pain in the ass allergy attack and decided it was time to quit for the day. I was trying to get a sesh going at Wilson. SO, I drove to Chi with one eye exploding and my head feeing like it was dipped in pepper. I got to the park and it was just as bad as when I left. Of course there was a rad sesh going on. I took one run and realized that I was about to die in there. Having blurred vision, disorienation, and histamine overload. sucks.

Flat Flat Flat

2008-10-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

This week it is the Flat Bottom express. And not J-Lo.

I began building the Flatbottom on Thursday and got half of it done. I got the other half built by 11am Friday and spent the rest of today leveling the ramp off. It looks like I'll be leveling all day tomorrow as well. But things are going as planned. However, I will have to raise the ramp about 3" which will cut down on head room again.. Ugh!!

I am also starting to get an anxiety attack over the distance between the joist for the barn roof and the lip of the ramp. I checked it out before and should have room but I always get all spazzy. I let the cat out of the bag at Wilson the other night. I wanted to wait until I had the frame completely built. So hopefully, I'll be able to tie everything together tomorrow (Saturday) and then take some pics of the ramp in its skeletal state and then blow it out to Chicago!

I am not to worried about people randomly showing up here. I doubt that very many people will make the drive anyway. Even though I did it every day this summer!! The funny thing is that most will probably not like the ramp. But I am glad that I was finally able to build something that I wanted. I talked to Bill last night and he was totally stoked on the ramp. As soon as I explained the dimensions he said "Fuck thats an old school vert ramp!" "I used to ride that shit all the time!" So if he is in agreement then I have nothing to worry about!!

I took a bunch of pics some step by step stuff but it is self explanatory.

More, more, MORE!

2008-10-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

I got some more work done this morning before work! Sometimes you can get so much done in a short period of time. It is like, where did my weekend go?? I was out of gas on Saturday for sure and Sunday just was making up for Saturday. Anyway, I did get some things done.

I built the frames for each deck which rules. So now when I am ready it is just prop them up and screw 'em in! Well, I am sure it will be more than just that, it always is. I have enough vertical posts to get that done too. I just have to think of a strategy to lift that shit up and prop it without busting a gut.

Maybe some help would do me good>?? It is hard to get people to come out to the south country like this. Calabro is away for the month and others well?? What is the point!!!! The point is that I am having a blast building this thing. I wish I could do more!! Maybe I can do it as a side job this summer! What a dream.

I also bit the bullet and finally did some double boards on the 8' transitions. I will sleep much better knowing that I put the beef where it counts. The 6' wide transitions should be stable enough and now the 8' Ts are ready for anything. I hope!!!

So more to come this weekend!! Lots of leveling and flat bottom construction. Yes!!

Transitions - done!

2008-10-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

This week was finish the transition week. I had false dreams of getting the flat built and getting to tie it all together by Sunday. I was actually worried that I would get ahead of schedule and not be able to afford the plywood. Well thank goodness I am on schedule!! I spent the week getting everything together on the 6 transitions. The bracing, the coping setup, is all done!!

I am proud to say that they are really beefy and should hold up. I am still being cheap about putting in the double braces but I will probably do that on Tuesday. At least for the two 8' Q-pipes. I'll probably do it in the lower transition area. Some people double up every two 2 x 4's. This is great when you are on a limitless budget and are building a 15' vert ramp that Danny Way is gonna shred. But I think that gettin' it in where it counts will work fine for me.

I am also concerned with the bounce factor. I rode a rad vert ramp that had a metal frame and less beef and it bounced!! So slams were not as horrific and painful and it was still very fast. I rode two other vert ramps that were built so well that it was like falling on concrete!! I rode a few other outdoor vert ramps that were mushy with rot and rain damage. So somewhere in between will do fine for me!!

I spent most of Sunday building the coping supports. I had a few bastard screws that stripped at the last second. I switched out drill keys and I had to cut off the head of the stripped ass screw!! I was so ticked! Then the drill fell off the top of the transition and bent the nice bit extender so I need to get one of those pronto. It seems to balance my drill very well - I gouged the shit out of my fingers three times after loosing that thing.

I decided to use 2 x 10 x 6' @ 8' to mount my concrete coping. So that required a little extra prep. I had to cut the top of the transitions in order to make a bed for the concrete coping. This was like cutting off one of my toes. It felt really bad to take away some of my vert!! But I wanted both sides to be even and the concrete is gonna be 2 3/8" thick so it should feel balanced with the 2 3/8" metal coping on the opposite side.

My reasoning for this is that I need to get good at both metal and concrete coping on big shit. I may eventually just put concrete coping on both sides. But I just wanted to have the steel there for now... I really hate metal coping and would rather just do all concrete but I need to get proficient at both because there is so much shit out there today and I need to really shred Kokomo next year!!

So for next week:

-Build/prep the deck frames (put 'em aside for later)

-Mock up the flat bottom and level everything out and get it all square

-Build flat bottom and tie everything together

-Get it all level and square

If things go well:

-Pour coping on Sunday

-Then raise some $$ for plywood, ugh

Gettin' things going

2008-10-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, I worked all week on the ramp and got more stuff done!! I have been spending an hour or two after work and working for about 5-6 hours on the days off before night sessions at Wilson. So things have been going well.

I was freaking out earlier in the week. I thought that I grossly miscalculated my wood supply. But I did not do too bad. I will have to go and get more 2 x 4s but it could be worse!!

I got the quarter pipes all built now. I just have to add in a few boards here and there when I get more. I also wanted to leave them open so I can get in there and level it all off. That seems to be the deal here.

I am starting to get exited about it all again!!

More More More!

2008-09-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

So while I was waiting to hear from Calabro I figured I would get some more work done. He didn't call me back until 2 so I got some good work done again on Sunday. I keep messing up the numbers. I was missing about 42 joist hangers and about 6 boxes of #8 screws. I got to a stopping point with the transition template prep and had to move on.

I am now realizing that I still have some shuffling to do in the barn. I never would have thought that I would be using the entire space so soon. SO, I have to move the wood pile and get the 100 year old sleigh in a safe spot. I have all of these paintings from my MA degree (1999) that are too big to store in the house. You may see some in the background. Yep, strange - i was all into Blues and Jazz music at that time, kinda obsessed with New Orleans as well. So my work was a lot about music, voodoo culture, folklore and outer space.

I should also add that I would like to offer some art up for a cheap price. I need to pay for this thing some how!! more on that..

I figured out a better way to attach the fill in pieces on the bottom of each template. I had to have a foot of vert so I did the pain in the ass thing and made an uneven height of 8' 6". This means that you can't use one entire 4' x 8" sheet. However, If I were to go with this size again, I think that I could have cut that section out as part of the lower transition?? Maybe. But now, I have to make it work. So I cut out the fill in pieces with a circular hand saw. I was not being too careful with the edges since I was cutting them form the scrap inside template left overs. So now I have some janky looking fill in pieces. Which are not true on the bottom. I figured out a way to fix this problem when I attach the frame.

I may just borrow a table saw and re-cut the fill in pieces. Although, I do not like table saws. They freak me out - I cut off three of my fingers when i was 18 at a cabinet shop... They had me ripping down boards all day and when you do anything repetitive like that it can get dangerous. Especially my spacey ass. No guards, barely a fence... scarey

So anyway, I mocked up the 8' sections just to see where I was with everything. My first instinct was ok, this might work?? I am still worried about the truss situation. But my father seems to be really cool about it all. I think he is glad that I am using the barn for something for once. It was really just a graveyard for local animals to freeze to death during winter. I did use it in the past as an art studio (hence the big ass art works), a shop (when i raced motocross) and a private place to work out music/songs.

So, I have had a relationship with this barn for a long time. I guess I always come up with some kind of kooky idea to use it. I built a 12' wide mini behind it about 18 years ago. At that time no one out here skated and it rotted away. I actually have a few of the boards that I may use in this ramp for vibe points.

Moving on, I went out and picked up more joist hangers and screws and rigged up some lighting last night. I got to prep 4 more transition templates and then I realized I did not get enough screws... SO, I am gonna run out and get some today on my lunch break. I am either hitting up the carwash after work tonight or I may just get back to the barn. Who knows!

I also realized I really F'd up on the wood calculation. I am short on 2 x 4's. Bummer - this means more $$$. I had enough set aside for plywood but now it may be pretty tight. Got to check craigslist of free wood!!!

Tranny part 2

2008-09-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

So I got up early this morning and got some work done in the barn. Had a rad sesh at Wilson last night and then watched the debate with Man-Night Eric. I really need to stop eating so much bad shit. I'll save that for the other blog.

So transitions. I got the sander out and smoothed out the waves on the curved edge. Then marked out across all 12 templates every 8". I started attaching the joist hangers and once I got to the end of template #1 I realized that I made a miscalculation. I am gonna need more 2 x 4s. Well, win some lose some.

I rigged up a cardboard template to connect the two transition pieces together. This was loosely based on Brendan's idea from Whitefish Skate Ramp CO. I decided to go with this idea because it was the least involved. Some other things I have seen require some masterful angles and I do not have a decent chop saw to do that stuff. Nor do I have the mindset. I guess I better get it if I ever want to build a bowl!

SO I spent an hour cutting those out and it worked well. I finally found a use for the scrap wood between each transition piece. I will also cut out the filler piece for the bottom of each transition template. The cuts are not pretty but it is all about using the waste material for something useful.

So after I got all of that stuff done, I put transition template #1 together and began checking the truss clearance again. This has been a major concern since the beginning. I actually started measuring at the beginning of the summer. I must have went out and measured that barn 10 times. I kept seeing the problem and trying to make things work. I finally made a mock transition and measured everything and came to the conclusion that it would work.

However, now that I have the real thing in there it looks a bit sketchy. The truss runs horizontal to the lip of the ramp. It is 6' from the lip and about 1.5' higher. When you look from one angle it appears that the skater would hit his or her head on the truss during drop in. But I also originally thought that we crouch a bit when we drop in and that it wouldn't be a problem. But of course I began to worry about Calabro. He often times catipult himself out to flatbottom and one may hit the truss when they do something like that.

So my intitial reaction to that today was fuck, I'm done. I went in and spoke with he who makes all decisions and is the final word was really laid back about it and said cut the truss out of try to make it work somehow. The neighbor did something like that to his barn where he increased the overhead height. SO, this will be another project to research the best and safest way to raise the truss up at least 2'. I guess I'll just keep building the ramp until I figure that part out. Then I have to get electric out to the barn too. Lots of extra shit!

Tranny

2008-09-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

So, I finally got the VW out of the barn and got some room to work! I cut out the transition templates today. I searched so many ramp plans and looked at pics on the interturd. I got some rad skateramp plans from Brenden at Whitefish Skate Ramp Co. Calabro hooked me up of course. Check out the site! Brenden is one of the organizers for the super rad Dreamland park in Whitefish, MT. SOOOOOOOOO effffin good!!

I figured out a sweet way to draw out the transitions. I screwed the 3/4" plywood to the floor and framed it out to be sure it was square. I used a 1" x 2" for the vertical and screwed my compass arm (another 1" x 2") to that. Everything was screwed to the floor so it would not move. I used the string method once but it would flex and come untied... 2 x 4's are kinda bulky so these skinny boards seem to work better as a big compass. It was fun.

I used a auger bit to open up a 5/8" hole on the end of the compass arm to put my sharpie through. Measured it all out for a 7' 6" transition and drew the arc. It was pretty easy accept the first time I forgot to link up the two pieces properly. Brendan has a pretty good way to join the two transitions together so I overlapped them a bit... The pics explain themselves.

I spent the rest of the day cutting out 6 transition template sets - 16 sides and 32 pieces. Good stuff!! I will have to cut out the tombstone connector things and then belt sand the arcs. They came out pretty good though, not too much lumpyness.

so it begins!!

Wood Hoard

2008-09-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

I brought over the wood from a donated Ramp that was in storage the weekend of the big Hurricane in Texas. That weather carried itself all the way up to the Midwest and beyond. I think we got 10" of rain during that storm. I skated the carwash the entire weekend which was really cool. I hadn't been there since March so it was all new again.

The only draw back is that it never stopped raining so it made moving wood not fun! I eventually got it all to the barn and had to wait a day or too. The ground was so saturated that it was impossible to drive through the field.

Last Thursday I made a trip to Home Depot to get more wood. I basically had enough 2 x 4s to build the transitions and some other wood for the decks. So I had to buy the wood for the flat bottom and the 3/4" plywood for the transitions, screws and other misc. I have about 10 sheets of 3/8" and will need to get more when the time comes. I figure that what I have now will keep me busy for a month if not more. Especially if the weather continues to be as good as it has been this week!! 70s-80s

I plan to build this ramp for my needs. It is great to have that kind of freedom. If you think it is too tight or not a real vert ramp or just a dumb idea then don' ride it! I have thought about this for quite some time and based on the space, the ramp dimensions will hopefully be 8' 6" high w/ 7' 6" transitions (1 foot of vert), 20' wide and 14' of flat. Wow, that is tight!! Yes, it will be very tight. This is as tall and wide that the barn will allow.

In defense of this, I am primarily a bowl/pool kinda guy. I do not like big transition vert ramps and I am not into mellow minis either. I have read that tighter ramps feel like a pool or bowl. I do not have hopes of doing 900s or anything like that. I just want a place to skate this winter and learn some damn tricks. For me, it needs to be on a tight gnar ramp like this!!

Most of the parks built by Grindline and Dreamland have tight trannies so why not build a ramp based on what is out there. I have some nice big coping for one end and hope to pour concrete coping for the other. Some will say that it should be the same on both sides. But if you go to a good park these days there is usually a variety of coping.

I do have a few guys who are willing to donate some time and maybe $$ but I want to keep most of the funding to myself here... But I think that I may have some fundraising happening soon. I would like to offer some art work up at a discounted price to pay for the wood. More on that later.

The Ramp

2008-09-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is the sister site to my blog EXPSKATE which is a blog devoted to music, art and skateboarding. I decided to start a separate blog that will document the construction and various phases of my ramp to be. Ramps tend to have lives just as people do. It is a lot like the life of a work of art. It is used in different ways, may have many owners, locations and even versions.

SO to start out, I guess I should blog the pros and cons of this project. When I actually thought about it, this project has been in the making for years now. Ever since I started really skating again, I have been in search for new and interesting terrain to ride. But I am always thinking in the back of my mind what I really want to ride. As you might have read in the other site, I have been to many parks and love some and am less enthused about others.

This project is one for survival of the coming fall and winter weather. Chicago can sometimes have mild winters but in recent years they keep getting more and more oppressive! I have spent thousands of dollars on gas and park fees over the years as well. I have skated nearly every day for the last 3 years and when a good chunk of those sessions were 10-15$ then you can imagine where all my $$ went... So this ramp will hopefully help a little in that department. As well as my ramp riding skills.

Last year, a group of us got together and constructed a mini ramp, and some other obstacles in a warehouse in Chi. Some may know this place as "The Carwash". Yes, I am in on that one too. Some even try to hide it from me - hahaha. It is not a secret spot, all are welcome, as long as you can find it and kick down some cash to pay for all the shit.

It was really cool that a group of us finally got together and actually did it. After a year in the warehouse all is still well and better than ever!! Anyway - I was happy with the way the place turned out but I am not a full on mini freak. I like bigger transition, vert, pool coping, etc. SO, my heart was not fully there - I guess I just wanted something more. And finally, this year I am going in that direction. But at the same time, it is great that the mini is still there. I feel like I can enjoy it even more now knowing that I have a new project going on.

My plan 6 months ago, was to live cheap, pay off my credit cards, save up a down payment and buy land, barn, house, etc. Well, I got the cards paid off and saved a little $$. But I am in no position of obtaining the big dream as of yet. With all that is happening at this point, I am honestly afraid of even going to a bank. For one thing, they are not just giving loans to anyone these days, and who knows if they will be there next week. I give them my $$ and they fold and my down payment is gone??

Also, my dream of land is probably out of a while, at least around here - too $$$.

So I compromised, I have access to a 30'x40' pole barn. The catch was it was filled with crap (literally) and has no electric. SO these are some things I had to work with the last few weeks. Moving old stuff that needs to be dumped and other things that need to be burned and still more things like animal corpses, feces and more good stuff to be disposed of accordingly.

I worked in that barn for about 3 weeks. And now it is almost ready. I know a few electricians and hope to run a line out to the barn soon. I have a service all set up and just need to move a few things around...