Automation

Riding an Invisible Ellipse

I rarely do things the easy way. In this case I designed and built a skateboard mini ramp not only to be durable and ride well, but also to look cool and blend into a residential environment where skateboard ramps aren’t always welcome with open arms. So from the jump I wanted it to look like it belonged, it needed to blend into the environment, a small pad I leveled within cedar tree woods with a surrounding limestone wall. Part of that blending involved open transitions, meaning instead of a squared off cut “box” to form the curved support structure, I wanted it curved top and bottom, which you rarely see done outside of metal framed ramps. I am not (yet!) a metalworker, so coming up with a way to have fully curved transitions was an integral part of the design.