Another batch of snowboard handrails (lot's o' pics & video)

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Here's some handrails I built for an event my buddies snowboard shop puts on.  The city lets us close down the street and we get enough snow trucked in to cover the entire street and we setup a snowboard park for the weekend.  We setup the street on Friday, have a contest on Saturday, and teardown on Sunday...quite exhausting, but fun.Things went really well last year, so this year we we're able to get some local businesses to sponsor the event.  Here's a few videos from the event.  One from the day after and one from the actual contest.  [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvBwm8WdCwc&feature=related[/ame][ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpqibdTei1c&feature=related[/ame]Now to the welding...Nothing to special about the construction of these.  Mostly just .120" walled square and rectangle tubing and some .90" walled 2" round.  Only tricky thing is that the steel supplier was out of the round tubing until Thurs. and the rails had to be done Friday, so I had to pull an all nighter to finish them on time, but sleep is overrated anyway.  Sorry the pics aren't in any particular order. Attached ImagesLast edited by jschulze; 01-28-2010 at 12:19 PM.Thermal Arc Fabricator 281Miller 350PMiller Syncrowave 200Lincoln ProCut-55Jackson NexGen
Reply:More Pics... Attached ImagesThermal Arc Fabricator 281Miller 350PMiller Syncrowave 200Lincoln ProCut-55Jackson NexGen
Reply:Even More... Attached ImagesThermal Arc Fabricator 281Miller 350PMiller Syncrowave 200Lincoln ProCut-55Jackson NexGen
Reply:More Still... Attached ImagesThermal Arc Fabricator 281Miller 350PMiller Syncrowave 200Lincoln ProCut-55Jackson NexGen
Reply:Almost Done... Attached ImagesThermal Arc Fabricator 281Miller 350PMiller Syncrowave 200Lincoln ProCut-55Jackson NexGen
Reply:I have a really dumbass question.....It looks like a snowy place. Why shut the street down instead of just playing on a hillside?Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:The work you did looks awesome. and Fun!I thought only guys like me that build onesy twosey stuff drilled out the coping on the tubing. I thought shop guys had those handy expensive machines that mill out the cope. Nice job, and a TON of work. I would love to work in a shop like that making fun stuff.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Originally Posted by Joker11I have a really dumbass question.....It looks like a snowy place. Why shut the street down instead of just playing on a hillside?
Reply:ahah, I knew there was a method to the madness!!!Thanks. Now I know. Note to self: Think outside the box next time.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Looks like everybody was having a great time thanks to you. Great job.
Reply:I envy all those using the rails, and the welding looks pretty good too....
Reply:How did you do the bends? What kind of paint?
Reply:Originally Posted by JohnnyWelderHow did you do the bends? What kind of paint?
Reply:Maybe a stupid question...how are you attaching the poly to the rails?  Are you heating up the poly to make it conform to the curve of your rails?I work at Seven Oaks Recreation ski area Boone IA, we have a couple "butterboxes" rectangular box steel/wood frames with wood skin, we use a larger (3/8") drill bit to countersink and use regular wood screws to attach, but damn it sure looks clean to not have any fasteners showing up top.How well does the DTM paint hold up to repeated scraping on top?  On our metal rails we've taken to just polishing the topside and hotwaxing with gulf wax, probably not the best solution but it works and everything is consistent for our skiers and snowboarders.
Reply:Originally Posted by greenbuggyMaybe a stupid question...how are you attaching the poly to the rails?  Are you heating up the poly to make it conform to the curve of your rails?I work at Seven Oaks Recreation ski area Boone IA, we have a couple "butterboxes" rectangular box steel/wood frames with wood skin, we use a larger (3/8") drill bit to countersink and use regular wood screws to attach, but damn it sure looks clean to not have any fasteners showing up top.How well does the DTM paint hold up to repeated scraping on top?  On our metal rails we've taken to just polishing the topside and hotwaxing with gulf wax, probably not the best solution but it works and everything is consistent for our skiers and snowboarders.
Reply:Originally Posted by jschulzeHi,I just counter sink .25" carriage bolts into the top of the plastic.  I use .5" plastic so I'm able to countersink them and still have enough meat for them to hold.  The fasteners weren't in when I took those pictures.  Although I did "p-tex" one of the holes and it worked pretty well.  Also, no heating to make the plastic form.       The DTM paint does scrape off after a few days, but I'm not sure there's any coating that would actually hold up over time.  We do the same thing.  After the paint is worn away, just wax them to inhibit rust as much as possible.
Reply:If it was aluminum it could be anodized, being steel you'd either have to chrome plate it, powdercoat it, or paint it.It may get expensive but duracoat and gunkote are amazingly strong paints, might be worth a shot, but unless hard chromed I wouldn't expect anything to hold up for long.Very nice job though. Looks really great.
Reply:a wire wheel and fresh coat of paint every few years it will last as long it's needed. Nice fun job there hope you get a bigger crowd next year
Reply:I wonder if the cost of stainless tubing would be justified compared to the cost of repeated paintings?Dynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE