Pilot phase done, and looking good!!

We have completed the pilot phase and everything looks pretty good. The work done is very accurate and we will not have any problems with the fixing of the surface to the frame. We have decided to use 5mm Countersink bolts with locknuts to fix the plywood and metal sheet to the surface. This will ensure that they don't pull out after a while... or at least we can tighten them or replace them if required.

It will be bit of a mission to drill all the holes through the 5mm angle iron for ever bolt we need and if you look at the 2500+ screws required it might take a while. But we'll do anything to make sure the surface is 100% for skating.

The other issue we will face is to put the nuts onto the underside of the flatbottom if it's flat on the base frame, because we don't have access under the ramp. We have a working solution and I will give you more info after we have done the flatbottom surface.

The flatbottom was very easy to build:

the deck box was also easy, just remember to leave 10mm gap at the top for the coping to fit in :-) This is a photo of one of the extension deck boxes:

The extention and normal deck box side by side (Normal = 12ft and Ext = 13ft):

A close-up of the gap required for the coping. Please not that this is a photo of the deck box upside down:

The transition is probably the more difficult part of the build. make sure your radius is the same for all transitions and create a template that you can use to create all the other sections. this will ensure all of them are the same.

The pilot donw with the plywood surface. Was more of a mission to bend 9mm plywood than expected. We used clamps to fix the transition to the deck box, and I much say it was very solid.

So we have decided that the pilot was a success and the design works with no issues. Next step is to build the rest of the frame. Will add more photos as we progress.

email me on info [at] vert[dot]co[dot]za if you have any questions....

can't wait!!  :-)