My holiday project continues to move forward, although not quite as fast as I had originally planned. First thing to do after my previous update was to get the second ramp built. This was an exact copy of the first, so I won’t go through the details and photos again as it’s all the same. In the end though, I now have two ramps ready to roll.
Next up was to construct the flat middle section to sit between the ramps. The plans have this at 2.4m long, but I have shortened mine to 2m to fit my yard. This was quite straight forward and less interesting that building the ramps. With the 3 pieces of the ramp now ready, I could get a section in the yard set up where it can live. This step was a bit time consuming and pretty boring. Masonry bricks were purchased from Bunnings for the ramp to sit on, to keep it off the ground and prevent moisture soaking into the wood after raining. Holes were dug to help level it out also. Once I had the section of yard set out and the bricks level, the three pieces of the ramp were moved out into position. It’s starting to look like an actual ramp 🙂
I didn’t bother joining the ramp pieces together yet. Having them in place on the masonry bricks allowed me to fix up the leveling in spots to ensure the ramp was completely horizontal and not on an angle in forward or sideways direction. I also wanted to ensure the weight of the ramp was spread around the blocks. Once happy with the level of the ramp, the 3 pieces were put into their final position and bolted together.
I purchased some steel pipe from Bunnings for the coping. This comes in 2.4m lengths at 60mm diameter – perfect for the ramp.
Large holes were drilled on one side, to allow me to fit a screw through, and smaller holes drilled on the opposite side for them to attach to the pine sitting behind them. I then put the coping in position and clamped it to the frame ready to install.
Screw holes were predrilled into the pine and the coping installed at both ends of the ramp.
That’s stage 1 of the ramp now complete (sort of..). I was 3 pieces of pine short on the middle section, so when I go to get the ply and masonite for the next stage, I’ll grab those too and install them. I hope to source materials for stage 2 Monday or Tuesday and have it done by Friday. To complete the ramp now, I will need to add two layers of 7mm pine followed by a layer of masonite. The level sections at each end will have a 17mm thick piece of plywood added. I’m happy with how it’s coming along so far and can’t wait to actually skate on it.