My skate ramp bed

Since mid last year that I’ve envisioned a place where I could express myself creatively, chill, relax, focus on my own ideas and specially save money to invest in projects, support talented, passionate people and push punkbit.com online to expose myself and all my multimedia skills and create new connections that will surely lead to something unique!

I’ve been sleeping in a airbed for more then 6 weeks now, and the reason is this project I’ve been building by myself:

When I dreamt about this, shared the idea with a few people but either was ignored or they started talking about something completely unrelated completely dismissing my vision and my little happy intimate share. I usally like to keep ideas and projects to myself for this reason.

So, I started by sketching what I had on my mind onto paper; Half pipe / skate ramp double bed frame project with storage, trucks door handle, done on a Japanese low-bed style.

Unfortunately the budget for this was really high, specially because I would need to get a jigsaw, etc and working Mon-Friday 9/6, not driving, getting all the necessary wood delivered is a mission! Although, I tried last Saturday at Trevor Perckins wood supplies , but they explained that I had to pre-order and book a pickup; They also do delivery, but my home now is in a state in Stockwell/London (the so called little Portugal) and the wood can be quite lenghty and it seems quite unusual to bring that sort of stuff to an apartment; If not just unpracticle! The width and length is massive to bring inside the building to start with […] especially because it’s an 8th floor.

My thought at that time was “Mos def not a quitter so surely I’ll do it in the future ? But at least I hope it inspires someone else”, I wasn’t really sure I could make this happen. So, posted the project on my Facebook and got some feedback, this time people who I usually don’t hangout with or don’t see for a long time send some support messages and tips, such as:

Rodrigo Loureiro:
Not as hard and expensive as you might think Bro. Look for some refurbished wood. Instead of a jigsaw search for a rotorazer that is easier and more accurate to handle. Godspeed with the project

I got very excited about the “Rotorazer”, which I didn’t even know exists. Spent a lot of time researching and finding tooling options.

Rodrigo Loureiro:
Bro. All must be dealt with calm and ease. Lot of patience to fulfill your objective. If you can't afford all at once... take your Time. But dont give up on a project that looks awesome and is your "face". Put some inline wheels in it just for fun.

I got an initial quote for an unrelated project:

I found it quite expensive, because the amount of wood I’d need for the project was a lot more. Plus I still had to buy a mattress, as I did’t have one and had been sleeping rough :)

Also no grind / galvanised iron tube / screws. All together should go up to 600 gbp! Quit expensive, for a project I wasn’t sure I could solve.

80% of the wood ordered and dropped Saturday morning! I also talked with the guys there and I’d get some recycled woood next week to finish in a budget!

The next step was the jigsaw, unfortunately the rotorazer max depth is 12mm and has really bad reviews so I didn’t want to risk. I was hoping to post progress everyday on facebook even if a big FAIL!!!! Or a pic of another chopped finger (yes, I did chopped one 10 years ago, it’s a trend).

At that time I also realised I some calculation errors for the mattress frame. A double mattress should be 1.35/1.90 and I had a 1.40/2.00 frame. Was fine though but 1.45/2.00 would’ve been so much better thinking about a thick blanket etc. But all good : )

Got all the power tools needed, and also other material for the ramp coping, that I got two 60mm steel tubes cut to size - all this shit was a fckn’ salary - I was just hoping the project not to fail…otherwise sad failure face, I could have gone to Nicaragua for holidays!

Big truck, lots of wood! Let the game begin! Big shout out to Krispy (the one in the picture, a pet project I did at The Late Night Salon in London, it’s a she) for helping me out bring the wood home and shizzle!

Humm I should have measured the room where I’m fitting this… 3.6 meters total lenght. Gotta redesign the storage compartments :z

Some friend started writing warning messages on my Facebook wall because of my history…

Ross Popejoy
Watch the fingers Helder Oliveira

Which I assured them:

Helder
No worries man!! I just read THIS 4 page leaflet!

Yes, that is my chopped finger :) I tend to call it Twix finger, it kind looks like a Twix! So here’s your Twix moment

Ross Popejoy
Haha well as long as you've read the leaflet

Ball level cutting… this shits scary! ! Did some test run so now going for it. Really hard to tell where to place the hands when you’re watching out for ya balls and chit chatting on facebook dude

Wasn’t easy but started cutting and got familiar with the tool quite quickly:

No extra hands? No problem! There’s always a creative solution:

For some obscure unlogical reason, the universe decides that it’s always the same ugly duck who suffers :( Always the same finger :)

Started looking good! Seriously, look at the first quarter pipe:

And the second quarter pipe:

Hummm there’s a measure error on the bed frame height. Should’ve fit the quarter pipe base height : / To cut it down its going to take 1h30 : ( (

Gosh! Totally missed to get the right height from the bed frame. The quarter pipes base are 7cm shorter. Trimming down the main bed frame will take a long time and precision but I just realised I’ve got the leftovers from this morning, I can just get the corners, glue it there, then reinforce it with wood and another timber bar. Let’s see if I can hack it : )

Quickly came up with a solution…

Shit, bad angle. Need to smooth the curve. Cool I only have cut one

Improved the curvature that should look like:

Managed to fix it but have to move a few bits here and there. Unfortunately machines need a rest, the drill screw driver tip died : ( I guess I have to stop too and eat. Tomorrow I’ll get back to it and keep you guys updated. Thanks for following ; )

For some reason this things always happen to me. Today I’m supposed to fit 2x 60mm steel tubes for the half-pipe coping. I went to pick it up at Ebay’s click & collect. Was a bit weird as the company that cut this for me, sent 3 cardboard tubes that measure not more then 1 meter ? Shit dude! I tried to return it back there directly but it’s just a collection point, so I went back and forth for nothing and was raining like the planet had flipped the ocean on me - luckily enough, I wasn’t hit by a wale!

So, here we go! There’ll be a delay, as I have to use a courier to send this back. So, hope to get back any time soon they send the tubes. Anyway, why did they sent the wrong size, when I requested I said: 2x 60mm tubes and I want it cut 1.40m each. I guess, they see 1 meter and 40 centimetres as in, 2x 1 meter and 2x 40 centimetres, cos I said each ? But each I was talking about each tube, I’ve ordered two tubes right… :T Ain’t my native language, so dunno bro

Back in the game! Let’s see if I can drill steel and screw this for the half pipe coping!

Fuck! Not even a hole yet. Not sure I’ll be able to drill on steel !? : | 1hour later and no hole gosh this is hardcore

Ok have to stop and I’ll try to figure out a solution. This was an 1 hour work and didn’t even drilled the all hole. I need like 8 at least

After metal hss and titanium drill bits failing yesterday, today I’ve cycled to get this really expensive drill bits for hard steel. It’s like butter, effortless first try!

The previous attemp was butter cos it was almost there from the previous failed attempts. The truth is, it took 12m to drill a small hole (going up 3mm next). Lots of patient, lubricant, 200rpm.

Hands all fucked and shit…blood…and…cuts…and…shizzle

Today I’m working on the storage! So instead of having it on the back is now on top because the half pipe is huge!

I’ve also managed to fit the steel pipes, plus drill the holes in it!

Looking cool! The cabinet handles r going to be skate trucks mos definitely. Hope to fit it Saturday :)

Ok here’s the deal! I won’t be able to grind or rock slide having this at this level, so I was about to place 18mm to wood underneath right now to raise it up but I’ve ordered 36mm which is about right - I wanted 30mm though. I think that’s it for today and tomorrow early in the morning I’ll get the wood I’ve ordered and hopefully complete the project - for the phase 1 at least : )

Picking the wood since 8ish. Lucky they lent me a trolley otherwise I don’t know how I would manage with such great “muscly body” I’ve got :]

My arms!!!

They were really nice lending me the trolley so I grabbed a box of portuguese tarts to say thanks to them! In the end I got new contacts in the wood scene, got some timber for free and I can pick up more if I wish! It’s reclaimed wood but good, different shapes. Will come handy on my next project :D

Went to grab some milk and guess what I just saw on my way back home!!! You know what?

I took it home b*tch! THUG LIFE!!!
Errrr' day 'am hustlin'
Errrr' day 'am hustlin'
(Fo yall white people who don't know the song search for 'Rick Ross - Hustlin' and then read this again with the tune in ya head)
* this is perfect to create a trunk / chest / small table etc
* this is what pips talk about. Ain't this karma ? Holla

Now is leveled right. One to go - quite tricky cos the holes need to be right with the steel tube holes.

Fuck, got the wrong wood thickness for the storage base (starts bending from 3 kg strength) and now the wood supplier is only open Saturday early morning or I’ll have to wait till next Saturday to get some structure plane wood to create the support. Sketching ideas late night after a full day at work leads to this : / I’ll think about a solution. Let’s see.

Lunch break. Ok so… lucky enough I have 3 leftover wood, one I’ll cut in half and I’ll have the exact fit I need for the storage base : D talking about karma!!! Let’s see how it goes : )

Bombaclat!!!!!! : D

Storage ready!

Quarter pipe front plywood dressing coming next : D

This next step is going to be tricky cos again was the wrong wood choice and wrong tickness (budget), so I’ll have to wet the wood to prevent it breaking during the process. I’ll have to cut to the right size first. I’ll need a few sheets. Just not sure this will be the final cover for the half pipe cos if I wanna skate on it, feels a bit too thin :/

The wood is now cut. Time to wet it, to help bend! Prevent breaking! Anyway this was the wrong thickness choice…hope to upgrade it soon. Don’t ask me how I found out that if I wet it it’ll be easier to bend; maybe it’s just a believe, but just felt is the way to do it!

Oh yeah son! One quarter pipe to go! My mum would have never allow me doing this joint!

DAMN! It feels good to be gangster ^ ^

Well well, that’s a wrap for today! I’m really excited, after one month and 1 week I’ve been sleeping on a air bed - I don’t mind - and at anytime soon I’ll have this finished and I’ll finally order the mattress : ) No much sleep either but super motivated ; D

Today I’ll work on the main mattress frame / middle part. Woke up really early, got 80kgs of wood […] ouch, it’s really heavy! I went back and forth 3 times. Took me half an hour each go. The wood supplier closed at 12h, so I managed this really well. A pity I don’t have a car or stuff like that, but I’m use to it but you really need strong will. At the end of the day, all the wood for this project is around 185 kgs or more. By the way that old man is really cool and he helped me a lot. He enjoyed the portuguese tarts (I bought some for them as a surprise) but him and the other guy thought I was American, so they were quite surprised with my niche, glamorous, charming choice!

This is what I’ll use to finish the project. I say finish but there’s still the coolest part to go that is, sanding, maybe treat the wood with varnish and of course THE STICKERS!

For the storage handlers I have to buy trucks. Most people don’t know, but they’re really expensive. I need a set of 4!

What I did to solve this was to order from an online sports market a really cheap skateboard. I got two! I’ll just use the trucks and the skate deck

I’ll use it later to create maybe a coffee table or a small bench!

I’m going to finish the storage now cos it’s easier. Then eat to get some energy cos I’m knocked out. Hopefully I’ll finish the mattress frame today ;)

It’s going to take a bit longer cos I need to engineer it, to be easily movable when moving to a new place. Also flip it, so I can skate or sleep ; ) *next month I’ll work on the electronics here. I want to have USB & Power plug sockets. To charge my phone, have my laptop etc. It’s gonna be rad dude!

Lets see how it goes!

Cool! Just the other side to go, then a small break for lunch, thinking about going to the portuguese (restaurant) :)

Nop, won’t be today. Gotta holla at a friend and can’t bail - already late. I’m exhausted anyway, dizzy and sleepy, but I’m sure I could do it. Maybe tomorrow or Monday. Lets see : ( fuck

A few steps left : )

This is the bed mattress flipped that’ll allow me to skate. The other way I’ll have the mattress : )

Flipped! The idea is that I can turn it upside down to skateboard on it, and turn it back up to fit the mattress. Awesome right?

That’s it. I still need to sand it, vacuum, dust clean, varnish and finally add all the coolest stickers and allow my guests and friends to tag it with my posca pens ; ) This was a very expensive treat, really hard work and learned a new skill that I have for life. Holla!

Fisheye view

Hope to finish my new nest in the next 3 weeks and get back to music production, drawing, 2d and 3d animation, circuit bending, electronics and mix all that with code, interactivity!

All the hard word…Skinny ass negro mode again, so yeah, gain weight.

Hope to share all that with you guys!

Holla!