First PVC rail...... will this work? +k for help

THUNT836

THUNT836

Active member
Posted this in Build a Jib as well, but figured it would get more views here. +k for any help!
So I'm building my first PVC rail, and I'm on a tight budget, so I need to work out most of the details before I actually buy any materials. Here's a schematic I drew up in school today, IT IS NOT TO SCALE. It is also not finalized, and not every drawing is accurate (some are just there for measurements) so please just pay attention to whats in the RED BOXES.
So mainly just need help with the angle of the shotgun, height, etc. Look below for the key info
SPARKNOTES:
-Shotgun single 3 inch PVC (10 feet long) -End of shotgun is 32 inches above ground-Angle of shotgun and flat ground is about 15.5 degrees
-Shotgun connects to flat PVC rail-Flat PVC is double 2 inch PVC (10 feet, side by side)-Flat PVC is roughly 20 inches off ground
1296857635rail.jpg

 
seems a little over engineered to me, my rails are just a bunch of scrap 2x4s screwed together, but it will work.

32 inches may be a little high off the ground though, thats a long drop and getting speed will be a pain, and 12 inch drop from up to flat may be a little excessive.
 
well seeing as how making a pvc rail isnt a very hard concept, and you sir went through a lot of trouble planning I'm going to go ahead and say yes, it will work.
 
make a CAD model and then import it into a program that can test stresses, you might have to calculate the stress created when you are on your skis. Math is FUN!
 
^^^ i agree with this guy, i sometimes cant get enough speed for mine and its a flat/ sometimes down rail. How do you plan to get speed for yours?

 
i really enjoyed your trig, cant you just get out there and build something, thats what me and my friends did and it works fine, but pvc slides nicely
 
hahah yeah you guys seem to have realized that i'm a tiny bit of a math nerd... but whatever.
yeah it'll be on a hill so speed shouldnt be a problem, its not gonna be a summer setup or anything.
main goal was to build a shotgun and a flat rail that can be hit separate or joined together into one feature
TO THE GUY WHO OFFERED TO SHOW PICS OF HIS SETUP, that would be very helpful man. I'm pretty lost when it comes to the supports.
thanks for all the opinions and help guys, +k to you all of course
 
you'll get so summer, be like "shit, i want to ski now," and want to make it into a summer setup. i thought mine was only going to be for winter too.
 
if you only make it like a foot off the ground you can always put it on something (snow, cinder blocks whatever) if you want to make it higher. this one seems pretty high but the blueprint looks like you have it all figured out. i have a pvc rail which i skate and ski on and no problems yet
 
Do this. Technically, a shotgun rail is two round bars next to each other, like a double-barreled shotgun. It works way better than a single rail
 
If the rails are going to be on a hill then the shotgun will become a flat rail and the flatrail will become a down rail. Don't know if only the run up is a hill or if you were planning on putting the rails on a hill.
 
no bro thats not my pic. i will be using a small hill for speed.
thanks to everyone for the opinions and help, i think i'm gonna make some tweaks and build this bad boy this week. i'll let everyone know how it turns out, just for the hell of it
+k to all
 
dude if i were u I would just build 2 flat bars, much more versatile. Then if u want a shotgun u could just prop up the back end of one of them on a cinder block or just snow, that's what I do.
 
this. make 2 ten foot flat bars, or three 7 or 8 foot flatbars. you can make single or double kinked rails just by propping up one of the rails or just leave all three flat. one thing i would recommend is making the end of each rail 1 inch taller than the beginning. that way, if you line them up flat, you don't have to prop up the ends to avoid getting caught on the next rail. so, the front would be say, 13 inches and the back around 14 inches on each rail.
 
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