Embedded Files
Because my skateboard was made from plywood, it has a tendency to chip, especially on high use areas such as the nose and tail. I wanted to prevent those chips, so I decided a tail guard would solve my problem. However, since this was a hand-shaped board, there were no tail guards for the shape and size of my board. I decided it would be best to make my own by 3D printing.
As I was starting to model the tail guard I was reminded of Razor spark scooters from my childhood. These scooters would have a spark cartridge on the brake of the scooter, so when you used the brakes and slowed down, sparks would shoot out of the back. This got me thinking how I could integrate that into my tail guard.
As I began my research, I found that the best way to create these sparks would be to use firestarter rods as they were about the same size as the ones in the razor cartridges and pretty cheap. I had to do a little bit more research into the composition of these rods as some made more sparks than others. They go by various names such as survival rods, ferrocerium rods, and mischmetal rods. Supposedly mischmetal rods create the most sparks because of the different metals used and its softer so you can scrape more off at once.
I also came across a product from the early 2000s called the Tail Devil. It was the exact same idea for a spark shooting skateboard as me albeit quite a bit smaller, and didn't serve the primary purpose of being a tail guard. The Tail Devils were appearently a pretty big hit with some younger riders, and was bought by Wham-O which never persued the product much and cancelled it pretty shortly after the purchase. This made it really hard for me to find specifications of the Tail Devils to see what kind of sized rods or what type of metal they used.
After I got the tail guard modeled and printed, I had to test it out. I wanted to make sure the rods were a tight fit in the hole and that the screws would poke through the right distance to go into the board but not through it. I went through three different variations before putting the final version on my board
To ensure a tight fit for the rods, I used a lighter to soften the holes and then inserted a rod so the hole was a perfect fit. I had to take the rods I bought and cut them down to size, so I went over to the machine shop in the engineering building to use a clamp and saw. I initially started with the bandsaw, but it made too many sparks so I went to the hand saw. It made sparks if I cut too fast and I had to make sure I wiped away the chips after each piece I cut or the shavings would all catch fire.
After I tested it out, you can tell how the plastic guard and metal rods wore down. Right now not all of the rods are striking the ground, so the more I use this, and wear it down more, the better the sparks will get.
Not only are the rods press fit in, but I put a little super glue at the bottom to make sure they don't move. I also put a bunch of super glue on the bottom of the guard before putting it on my board. The screws went through about a 1/4" of the board, which was a little over half of its thickness.
IMG_2051.MOVPage updated
Google Sites
Report abuse