VillageFox
Steel Member
and all other parts like bars, wheels, etc. I want to build one the dimensions I want. All the scooters I see are too tiny. Could I just weld some aluminum tubing together and slap a plat on top?
How easy is it to build a deck from scratch?
- Thread starter VillageFox
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How big are you wanting your scooter to be?
VillageFox
Steel Member
like 22-25 inches long and 6-10 inches wide. I want to use 150-200mm wheels
I think if you made a 10 inch wide deck, it would need a lot of ground clearance to keep from scraping in turns. That might make it too high. If you make the deck out of tubing and a plate instead of an extrusion, then it needs to be thicker than a normal deck (for strength), and the deck height problem will be even worse.
I have had gas and arc welders for years, but never a setup for things like aluminum or stainless. Now that I have the money for that kind of rig, my eyes are so bad I could hardly enjoy it. Do you have a TIG setup? Another concern is heat treating after welding. I think without heat treating, anything other than a massively thick and heavy deck might not hold up too well. So you might need a heat treat oven too. A small manual metal lathe would be good enough to make the head set tube. It might be better to start with a standard deck and somehow widen it to 6 inches. With 125mm wheels, scraping shouldn't be a problem. You could widen it by adding a plate on top. Maybe 1/8 or 3/16. You could cut out the center of the plate to reduce weight and make a place for welding. A few small welds might hold it and not disturb the existing heat treat.
Making bars might be the easiest of the parts you list. But you still have the problem of either heat treating or making them heavier than normal. Another problem is materials. Try buying chrome moly or aluminum tubing new. Sticker shock. The only real choice is salvage, unless money is not much of a concern.
Wheels would be easy to make with a small lathe. But buying PU pouring supplies in small quantities is costly. If I ever replace the lathe I sold a while back, I might make a fakie slider wheel that uses HDPE instead of PU. HDPE is almost as slippery as teflon, but is much more durable. I would machine the HDPE from a chunk instead of pouring like is done with PU.
I have had gas and arc welders for years, but never a setup for things like aluminum or stainless. Now that I have the money for that kind of rig, my eyes are so bad I could hardly enjoy it. Do you have a TIG setup? Another concern is heat treating after welding. I think without heat treating, anything other than a massively thick and heavy deck might not hold up too well. So you might need a heat treat oven too. A small manual metal lathe would be good enough to make the head set tube. It might be better to start with a standard deck and somehow widen it to 6 inches. With 125mm wheels, scraping shouldn't be a problem. You could widen it by adding a plate on top. Maybe 1/8 or 3/16. You could cut out the center of the plate to reduce weight and make a place for welding. A few small welds might hold it and not disturb the existing heat treat.
Making bars might be the easiest of the parts you list. But you still have the problem of either heat treating or making them heavier than normal. Another problem is materials. Try buying chrome moly or aluminum tubing new. Sticker shock. The only real choice is salvage, unless money is not much of a concern.
Wheels would be easy to make with a small lathe. But buying PU pouring supplies in small quantities is costly. If I ever replace the lathe I sold a while back, I might make a fakie slider wheel that uses HDPE instead of PU. HDPE is almost as slippery as teflon, but is much more durable. I would machine the HDPE from a chunk instead of pouring like is done with PU.
N
Nate T
Guest
If you want something 6 wide just get the new aztek deck coming out, for length proto makes 24 long and pretty sure there gonna hop on the 6 wide wagon soon.
If you want to get really tall bars just get the new proto v3's slayers or retros they come like 30.5" tall and 26 wide I pretty sure
From looking at your inquiry, this scooter your talking about would be used not so much for tricks, but for cruising.
I would look into getting a bike then, its almost the size
xD