How to Build a Skateboard Quarter Halfpipe

Without tricks, skateboarding can get boring fast. Many of the best tricks require a ramp, rail or pipe to pull it off. Buying a quarter halfpipe, which is almost exclusively known as a quarter pipe, can be extremely expensive. Going to skate parks can be difficult because of distance, overcrowding and price. As an alternative, build your own quarter pipe to save money and customize your design.

Things You'll Need

  • 3/4-inch plywood boards
  • Pencil
  • String
  • Tape measurer
  • Saw
  • 13 2-by-4s, 8-feet
  • Drill
  • Screws
  • Nails
  • 1/4-inch masonite boards
Show More

Instructions

  1. Building the Frame

    • 1

      Place a 3/4-inch plywood board on the ground. Tie a 7-foot string around a pencil, and place the pencil at the far corner of the board. Keep the string taught and move the pencil at the edge of it, drawing an arc across the plywood.

    • 2

      Place the pencil at the point where it reaches the end of the board, measure 4 feet back, and draw a vertical line to the other edge of the plywood.

    • 3

      Use a saw, preferably a jigsaw, to cut across the template you drew. Use the side you just cut out to trace out another template, and cut it out of the same board.

    • 4

      Take 10 of the 8-foot long 2-by-4s. Screw each of them into the slope of the quarter pipe sides, making sure to use multiple screws on each. Space them out evenly along the slope, with the 2-inch side facing perpendicular to the part of the arc where it is located, and flush to the edge.

    • 5

      Let the last one have the 2-inch side up perpendicular to the ground, and place it at the front of the very top of the quarter pipe sides.

    Platform and Coping

    • 6

      Drill one of the 8-foot 2-by-4s to the back of the top edge of the quarter pipe sides.

    • 7

      Cut up the remaining two 2-by-4s in half and fit them between the two 2-by-4s at the top of the quarter pipe. Space out the four pieces evenly and drill them in.

    • 8

      Cut out a piece of plywood board that is 8 feet wide and 3 feet, 8 inches long. Place the piece on top of the quarter pipe frame and leave a 2-inch space at the front. Drill down the plywood. Add a backside to the quarter pipe made of plywood. Make it 8 feet wide and as tall as you chose the quarter pipe to be. Cut out an inch deep section of the exposed 2 inches of the 2-by-4 across the entire length.

    • 9

      Take the 1.5-inch diameter metal pipe and drill four holes as wide as the heads of the screws you are using on one side, evenly spaced. Directly across from the four holes, drill holes half their width.

    • 10

      Place the metal pipe on the section of the 2-by-4 board you cut out, with the small holes facing the board. Drill screws through the holes into the board below.

    Surfacing the Quarter Pipe

    • 11

      Cut a plywood board that is 8 feet wide and as long as the arc of your quarter pipe.

    • 12

      Soak the plywood board in cold water for about an hour to make it temporarily more pliable.

    • 13

      Nail the bottom of the board to the first 2-by-4. Use four evenly spaced nails. Slowly bend the board into the shape of the arc of the quarter pipe, nailing the board to the 2-by-4s as you pass them. If you go too fast the board may crack, and you will have to restart this section.

    • 14

      To make the quarter pipe more durable add a second plywood board on top of the first, bending it into shape slowly. Add a masonite board over the plywood to make the pipe smoother.