kraffft work

[jaytoo]

So it finally snowed a tiny bit here last night.. got to fully test out the psybrid for the first time:

YouTube - Road/Snow Hybrid - First Tests

Moderately successful.. It's always worked well on the pavement, and it rides pretty much like a snowboard downhill, but it gets slowed down by the ~1/4" gaps between the wheels and the board too much on the flats.

Around 0:29 in the vid you can see the cheese-grater/plane/chisel/potato-peeler effect on the front wheel.. ends up throwing a lot of snow on the deck too:



Simple mod to seal those gaps tighter coming up next.

Maybe if the wheels were more in the middle of the platform, the ends would work better at displacing the snow?

But that would require a new deck, so I guess not, lol...

[Vita Activa]

Kraffft I like your creativity. Thanks for the info on my Board Criteria. I was aware of the few boards that use the pumping technique for propulsion but I keep finding out more and more brands such as the RTR (rail to rail) longboading company yet I see none on the streets or hear them beign talked about on the forums. People tend to stick to the good old skatebaord truck system. Would you know why that is?

Cheers,
VA

[kraffft]

I keep finding out more and more brands such as the RTR (rail to rail) longboading company yet I see none on the streets or hear them beign talked about on the forums. People tend to stick to the good old skatebaord truck system. Would you know why that is?

That might be a dangerous question to ask a bunch of skaters.. but I like it.

The answer obviously has a lot of parts to it.. and I don't know what they all are, or what parts tend to be the biggest factors.. but I'll speculate a little:

The skateboard is actually the simplest and most versatile out of all the boards out there. No hybrid can travel at faster speeds, or pump more efficiently (that I know of). Many hybrids can't slide, or are difficult to even footbrake with (or brake at all).

Skateboard parts are very interchangeable. There's a large benefit to having many boards and being able to swap parts between them. (as opposed to having many hybrids that need parts special ordered from one source when they break). and the ride can be altered dramatically and tweaked more finely due to the wide variety of parts available.

If a person can only afford one board, or one board every once in a while, it makes sense to start with what's been time proven and developed by 1000's of people over decades.

and then there's the social reasons and intangible physical/emotional/spiritual reasons.. which are the trickier ones to pin down.. but are probably the most important.

Even the tiniest changes to skateboards seem to be unappealing to the majority of skaters. Shortboard culture is the extreme example, but longboarding is similar.. Foot bindings aren't allowed, wheels can't be too big, brakes are unthinkable, boards should look nice and not too different from what's out there, and you should ride them certain ways..

You find the same conservatism in any hobby though, if not in every human activity..

But it does make a lot of sense for a group of people to be riding similar boards.. Learning specific techniques from each other, enjoying specific types of terrain, being able to race or at least keep up with each other, cornering in similar ways.. etc.

In general it's very easy to invent wacky boards, but to have a chance at catching on it's going to need some major advantage(s) over what's out there, it should be as versatile and compatible as it can, it's going to take a while, and you have to build it for the love of skate.

Not in general at all.. now I want to start a skate gang where everyone rides their own bizarre hybrid.

[Archy]

That video's great. It reminds me of Alpha's snowy Derv tribute from last year, but with a purpose.

And it really does look like you were getting somewhere in that final run.

[kraffft]

have you messed around with making bushings from oddities? recycled materials? im thinking holes cut out of old bike tires and the like.maybe even racing slicks if you could get your hands on a used set.
cutting them out of bouncy balls, erasers, etc etc.

i thought of it and immediately searched for this thread.

Here's some bushings made out of tire rubber for ya.

Sawzalled a section out of a tractor trailer tire.. wasn't expecting it to have the steel belting in the sidewall, but no big thing. Sidewall is about 1/2" thick, so one piece, or two pieces stacked, both make reasonable size bushings.

Used a 1.125" hole saw. which leaves about 1" cut-outs. Then drilled the center hole bigger with a 1/2" bit (bigger than the 3/8" kingpin size to account for stretch while drilling).



Seeing too many casterboards lately.. I wanted to try to set up a skateboard that could turn as tight as possible.. so the tire rubber was going to be perfect for that.



50 degree plates wedged another 20 degrees, leaving over an inch of clearance at max lean for wheel bite (assumed it would break in more). The wedging works well because it reduces lean (as well as increasing turn), easier to stay on and easier on the ankles that way.





Turning radius ended up being a little less than two feet.. which makes it practically a ripstik hybrid. Pumps uphill easier than a ripstik, can do ridiculously tight circles, can carve down a sidewalk, great for winter indoor fun, and who knows what tricks it can do.

YouTube - 58a Tire Rubber Bushings

The last shot in the vid is in reply to this thread here (I so want to sponsor this lady!):

360 HANDPLANT BODYVARIAL KICKUP KATCH: casterboard edit

[chandler95]

Hahaha that actually looks like a lot of fun...put some of your wheels on there!

[wardlarson]

son of a bitch hahahah that is awesome man. im gonna have to try this out!

[spoctopus]

SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
You should make tire elims haha.

[luftywaffles]

that is ####### ridiculous

in the most awesome way possible

[Jerzey@AdvancedSlideLabs]

That is pretty sweet craft. It really makes me wanna do it myself just to kick around and have fun with!

[kraffft]

Glad folks like the super turny experiment.. Old tires are free and a hole saw costs less than a set of bushings.

Try different heights, diameters, kingpin nut tightness, mixes with other duro bushings, etc. Putting in longer kingpins helps too.

I'd still like to push it even further some time.. get the turning radius down to half the length of the wheelbase or so..


And now for something completely different:

This is a game that my girlfriend Jess and I came up with for my friend Andy's 30th birthday.. we brought it over to Andy's place a little early so we wouldn't have to deal with setting it up the night of.

Unwrapping the present:



Most of the game pieces:



Trying it out:



Jess gives Andy a massage using a Barbie doll:



The game being played at the party:

YouTube - Off the Top of the Seat of Your Pants

Basically, you take turns drawing action cards and doing what they say.. The actions often have blank spaces to be completed by drawing random 'Person', 'Place', and/or 'Thing' cards.

Each 'Thing' card was one of the random pieces of junk we brought over, the 'People' cards got filled out at the party with people's names, and the 'Place' cards were different parts of Andy's house.

Some Action cards would change how the game was being played, or have people make more cards for the game. Sometimes a Person card would tell you to pick a thing instead of a person, or an Action would tell everyone to do something at once, and various other tricks to make things more chaotic.

No real rules, or score or anything. People would take another card if they were really mortified by anything, or interpret it however they wanted..

Good times. Very easy and fun to make. Potentially a good prank gift or way to get rid of some surplus junk.

The actions in the video are:

0:00- Everyone pig pile with a Carboard Box and a Martini.

0:17- Bowl a frame against Andy using ten Things as pins.

0:26- Have a race against Theresa where you each ride a Thing (Blue Disk and Sleeping Bag).

0:47- Read a book in a dramatic voice while holding a Flagpole Holder and some other thing.

1:22- Do the next action while standing on one leg, and- Tell a story about the last time you were completely wasted.

1:51- (Pat drawing a Person card) Give A Swiffer a haircut in The Kitchen.

1:56- Double the speed the game is being played at.

2:01- Call Andy's mom and tell her what wonderful sons she has.

2:12- Pretend that you're a Skateboard (What are the chances that I would get these cards!?).

2:46- Balance five Things on top of each other (Included a Running Power Drill and The Internet).

2:52- Tell a story about the time you were in third grade.

3:29- Make a human pyramid with you on top.

[kraffft]

In one week, on Monday, March 1st, 2010, kraffft work will transform.

A new experiment will begin.

Full time open source inventing.

Completely unrestrained.

More intense and organized than ever.

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

stoked to see this evolution of longboard insanity

[ckpcw]

In one week, on Monday, March 1st, 2010, kraffft work will transform.

A new experiment will begin.

Full time open source inventing.

Completely unrestrained.

More intense and organized than ever.

all hype should be like this hype.

I am excited about this.

[scratch]

all hype should be like this hype.

so true....

[kraffft]

In six days.. I start to answer the question:

What is possible with $6000 and 6 months of free time?

[speshlspeclsteak]

great and terrible things I'm looking foreward to all of them

[Barf]

In six days.. I start to answer the question:

What is possible with $6000 and 6 months of free time?

Thirty-Three dollars a day worth of beer & hotwings.

A free skateboard for a local kid every three days.

A hooker a week for 24 weeks.

Feed 100 hungry third-world children for 6 months, if Sally Struthers can be believed.

A bus ticket to & from Atlantic City, food for the trip, a place to sleep while you're there, and $5500 on Black. If you win, your experiment gets double the budget (less expenses).

One single set of Delrin slide wheels for the Skate-Car.

A Guinnes World Record attempt for "World's Largest Skateboard".

A set of Delrin slide wheels for everyone who posted in this thread prior to today.

An outlaw DIY concrete skatepark.

????

[SheepGoToHeaven]

In six days.. I start to answer the question:

What is possible with $6000 and 6 months of free time?

hopefully something epic and innovative!

Also Barf, What is this skate-car you speak of?

[benmasters]

i like the port-park. thatd be sweet...just set up in a parking lot and have sick transitions and stuff.