Slightly OT sledges who sells? or how to make?

Heavy plastic sack (e.g. fertiliser bag), stuff with straw. Slide.

If you pop into WH Smith or any newsagent which carries a wideish selection of mags, pick up a copy of the latest ie January 2010 issue of Woodworking Plans & Projects. Just so happens that it contains a pull-out set of plans for a sled, instructions included.

JimK wibbled on Sunday 20 December 2009 19:38

I thought I might try turning up some rails out of 22mm copper pipe (have bender).

I have a small pallet outside and the idea of shoving some rails on it was tempting, then I realised the pallet was quite heavy (though only little over 2x2 foot). Wouldn't be nice to have that land on yer head in a down hill tumble.

The plastic modern jobbies do have the advantage that they are unlikely to maim in themselves.

Rod wibbled on Sunday 20 December 2009 19:51

Neighbour introduced me to that idea last Friday.

Even a metal tray has some potential.

Certainly possible. But a number of years ago a friend of mine used a snow-filled sack, the snow was perhaps a bit hard packed, or maybe not enough in there, the ground was hard frozen and bumpy. And she severely damaged her coccyx. So take care...

If you treat sledges like I used to when I was a kid, that won't last long :-)

Heck, memories there of the behemoth of a wooden sledge I had once as a kid - weighed a ton, and with crude metal strips on the underside of the runners. How we always managed to avoid broken limbs, I'm not sure.

Oh, we found last winter that inflatable tubes were by far the fastest - way better than the wooden sleds of old, or the plastic ones that replaced them. Unfortunately it's a lot harder (and less fun) to DIY an inflatable tube!

cheers

Jules

aha where did you get em? tia JimK

Bonnet from a car works - and you can get more than one person on it :-)

Try Tescos, Asda etc. (I'm reading from the US - local Walmart do 'em here). Ask them if they don't obviously have any - at least here they seem to get a supply in, then they all sell out in a few hours, then repeat next day...

I wonder if a truck / tractor inner tube might be better; problem with the store ones is that they're really thin plastic rather than rubber, so they tear quite easily and then are a bugger to patch up. No idea where I can just go out and buy such a thing, though.

cheers

Jules

Nothing that equipotential bonding cannot sort out then:-)

Adam

I was surprised to see a bonnet from an MGA being used by our transport manager's kids on Thursday!

AJH

Was it still attached to the rest of the MGA? :-)

I once hit upon the idea of using plastic trunking lid for the runners

- f*ck me, it was the best sled i'd ever seen for slippiness - it'd run away of its' own accord on the merest hint of a gradient !

On a sad note, this happened earlier this year.

Wednesday, 4 February 2009 - Teenage girl dies in sledge crash

I trust you are getting your coat? :-)

Indeed; I can confirm from experience. 1950's cars (and earlier!) were also useful; their front wings were condusive to charging down a snowy slope.

I bet mine wuz faster than yours. ;)

We used to have access to copious supplies of wood from wastes from new housing being built close by and transport packaging. The runners were steel flats circa one and a half to two inch in width being about a quarter of an inch thick flattened in place with a hammer and attached to the wooden runners by countersinking and drilling through using a real dwill; none of them electwic fings!

I'm trying to picture that. I've got the wings of a '39 Packard sitting out by the garage, but they'd be way too curvy to balance on!

cheers

Jules

To do that years ago was not a sin but to do it today? Unforgivable.