How to make copers

Another of my #DIY posts!

One day out skating, a friendly skateboarder asked me why I don't do truck grinds. I explained that even trying grind down the king pins, they still stick out. He had a look at my trucks and said get copers! So simple solution, why hadn't I thought about it before!? If I can't get the kingpins lower, I should just rise the truck... and with the coper it would be slidier! At home I googled 'copers' to see what they look like and then headed off to a hardware store....

Coper installed

Materials & Tools 

• One length of plastic plumbing pipe (pvc pipe) about 25mm diameter (check your trucks for size!) and with walls thick enough (2-3 mm). I took one truck with me when I went shopping, just to make sure.
• Hacksaw 
• Sharp drill (useful but not necessary) 
• Vice (useful but not necessary) 

Material and tools

Select pipe with thick walls

Steps 

1. Cut pipe to length - slightly shorter than your trucks.
2. Draw a line lengthwise Draw the little cut out in the middle (to accommodate your kingpin assembly)
 (optional but makes things easier: drill three holes to take most of the material off middle of the pipe)
3. Saw the pipe open lengthwise
4. Saw off the middle 'cut out' section. If you'd drilled it already, there won't be much to saw, so just tidy it up.
5. REPEAT three more times until you have four copers

DONE!

Drill 3 holes in the middle, cut lengthwise then cute the middle section out

Now you can fit them by simply snapping them on. The pipe is flexible enough to open up to snap them on, but retains it's shape well and will hold on nicely.

Snap on, snap off!

How to make sliders for Probe

NOTE - I have made some improvements to the slider design - check my newer post! Different shape, same installation. 
Following my post about how to make sliders for Arius plate, I have built myself ramp skates using the Sure-Grip Probe nylon plate and fitted them with DIY sliders. Here is how...

Materials and tools

• Card for making the template
• Pen & scissors
• Plastic chopping board (mine from Ikea, 80p)
• Electric jigsaw and a narrow blade for cutting curves
• 10mm drill bit (optional, for easier cutting of the plastic)
• Clamps for holding the plactic as you saw it
• Vice (optional, for easier final shaping of the slider pieces)
• Rough half rounded file for finishing the shaping
• 5mm drill bit and a cordless drill
• Four bolts and nuts to fit the 5mm holes (nuts with nylon inserts, just like skate wheel nuts)
• Spanner(s)/socket & ratchet to tighten the nuts

How to

Cut a template out of card. Make it as big as you can, without it touching the skate parts when they move. Try to make the shape symmetrical. Mine has a wide base so that more of it presses against the plate for stability. The height I chose so that they sit lower than the axles which I aim to be grinding on.

Once happy with the template, draw four shapes on the chopping board. Place them so that they are easy to cut.

Drill 10mm holes in any sharp corners of the shapes. This leaves only straights to cut, making the job easier. 

 

Clamp the plastic onto the work surface and make sure it's securely held in place before starting the cutting.

Use the jigsaw to cut off each shape. Don't worry about making the tidiest cut as you can easily shape them up later.

 

 

Gather all four pieces and clamp them together, making sure the bottoms sit flat. Put them on a vice if you have one. Then grab your rough file and shape them even.

Take them off the vice. Adore your handiwork for a minute. Nice job! 

Place one on the skate plate where you want it. Carefully check it's in the right place. This is the scariest irreversible bit - drilling the holes. Drill the holes as far apart as possible where the nylon is the thickest, but not too close to the kingpin.(No pictures as I was concentrating so hard on the task!)

If you can't hold both slider pieces in place securely while you drill, do what I did. While holding the top slider in place, drill through it until you hit the nylon and leave a mark on it. Don't drill through yet. Then take the slider off and drill through that mark on the nylon, making sure that you hold the drill square in all directions. Then replace the slider, drop a bolt through the hole to hold it in place as you drill the other hole all the way through. 

Slot a bolt in the other hole too, fix the both nuts in place and tighten them with the spanner and ratchet. Make sure that they feel solid.

Inspect your work and do any required final shaping with the rough file. Do the same to the other skate and you're done!

Nice!