Diy welded rail materials

i know you wont wanna hear this... but backyard rails should always be pvc, its more fun. They are lighter, cheaper, easier to make, and slide better. U should try and make money welding rails for ski resorts instead

milotv34i know you wont wanna hear this... but backyard rails should always be pvc, its more fun. They are lighter, cheaper, easier to make, and slide better. U should try and make money welding rails for ski resorts instead

Nah dude. Pvc rails are fun for sure but if you wanna practice on the steel and build a rail you should. It's super fun and a good way to learn.

OP, stay away from galvanized. Do you have access to a welder? Dad, friends dad, somebody you know that has a shop?

You can get one cheap through a harbor frieght, quality is whatever but itll work. Can be expensive though if you're a broke kid. Prolly minimum 100 and range 100 to 200. But they will work. I've built rails with a chicago electric harbor frieght welder.

If you get into it, hobart is a great brand for a cheaper welder. I believe they are owned by Lincoln these days. They're underrated imo. I have a hibart i bought for 4 450 ish. It's solid. I know. Lot of people that own the same rog for their side work or doing work around the house.

If you're finding scrap you wanna make sure its not too thin. Thin steel is harder to weld and also can dent from you slamming on it.

Prices on everythint are up.but maybe see if you have any places near you that sell steal.

You can built it with a pen and paper or in google sketchup. See exactly how much material you will need. You can adjust dimensions to maximise your usage of the steel you buy.

Backyard rails are relatively easy to weld but can teach you some skills you can pursue, or just give you a fun rail to shred.

Basically you need to figure out how much steel you need, buy it, a sawsall is good to have, welder or one you can borrow, angle grinder with grind wheels, cutting disks, and flap disks.

Harbor freight is a good spot for those tools on a budget honestly. Can get a Chicago electric grinder for like 15 bucks. Might not last forever but ive built many features with those budget tools.

A wire brush is nice to clean up the surface.

You wanna make sure any grinds on the surface get hit with a flap wheel to smooth them out. A grinder makes things "smooth" but the edges of your skis will feel that for sure. A flap wheel is like sanding metal basically and can polish your rail.

Paint is good so it doesn't rust. Nice to throw a strip of painters of masking tape down the center so you dont have to ski off the paint. If you wantbit to last, oil based paints are thick and can inhibit rust and keep her looking good.

It's a great project to undertake and you can learn tricks at home and easily transfer them to the mtn.


If you build features with kinks, kinks seem mellower in your head till you hit them. 20 something seems chill but your rails at the mountain are generally mkre 12-15 degrees. So be careful to keep it rideable where you can trick and not a survival feature.

I def say send it my guy! Great diy project to teach you skills and help your yard park and tricks progress.

Best of luck. Bump the thread or reach out if you have more questions!

Als length depends on speed a bunch, possibly more than skill. I wouldn't go shorter than 14 though. Rails seem way shorter when you put them in the ground to ski. 20' might be abkut as big I'd go for a backyard feature.

Good to build wide feet. That will keep it stable when you're spinning on or doing switch ups. Especially if you're skiing it woth minimal snow.

Probably would try to have at least a foot min on each side. Likely mlre though. Even if it's only 1, 1.5 feet tall it will rock a bit sode to side at that. 1.5 each side or even 2 is better to stabalize.

Cab even build the first foot at the start extra wide since you'll jump over it and never hit it.

But yeah, don't underestimate feet. You dont want that rail falling over on you when you're trying ro learn tricks.

Depending on situation could even weld a piece of flat strap maybe like 2 or 3 inches as a down on the edge of your feet to sink in the grass and keep it really locked in.

Diy backyard stuff ends up a little different then the resort. But that's what I would recommend.

Again best if luck. Re read and saw your bro welds, so I think you should be good. Likely he understands some of this stuff and has the tools.

Post pics on the process and finished project!!

theabortionatorAls length depends on speed a bunch, possibly more than skill. I wouldn't go shorter than 14 though. Rails seem way shorter when you put them in the ground to ski. 20' might be abkut as big I'd go for a backyard feature.

Good to build wide feet. That will keep it stable when you're spinning on or doing switch ups. Especially if you're skiing it woth minimal snow.

Probably would try to have at least a foot min on each side. Likely mlre though. Even if it's only 1, 1.5 feet tall it will rock a bit sode to side at that. 1.5 each side or even 2 is better to stabalize.

Cab even build the first foot at the start extra wide since you'll jump over it and never hit it.

But yeah, don't underestimate feet. You dont want that rail falling over on you when you're trying ro learn tricks.

Depending on situation could even weld a piece of flat strap maybe like 2 or 3 inches as a down on the edge of your feet to sink in the grass and keep it really locked in.

Diy backyard stuff ends up a little different then the resort. But that's what I would recommend.

Again best if luck. Re read and saw your bro welds, so I think you should be good. Likely he understands some of this stuff and has the tools.

Post pics on the process and finished project!!

def was not expecting this much info but very very appreciated. i’ve got access to a welder through my brother and he’s gna be the on walking me through the whole process. did some surface level research and seems that it would be pretty easy for me to source steel in my area. thanks again for all the info much love

badaruudef was not expecting this much info but very very appreciated. i’ve got access to a welder through my brother and he’s gna be the on walking me through the whole process. did some surface level research and seems that it would be pretty easy for me to source steel in my area. thanks again for all the info much love

I get hype any time people take on diy projects. Especially ski setups or skate ramps.

I was building ramps and rails before I really got into the ski industry. Have fond memories and learned some skills in the process.

Post pics of the process or I'll permaban you :)

Get two lengths of chain link fence posts. Throw them on a 2x4 wood frame with some feet. Make a pile of snow to set either end on to get to the height you want. Galvanized has always worked fine for me. The hardest part is drilling the holes through the posts. Use sharp drill bits.

No idea how it would perform as a rail, but you can get a 2" diameter 20 foot long stainless steel pipe for around 400$. You could also get a 10 foot long stick of black steel at Home Depot for like 80$. However you want to go from there is up to you. You could weld flanges onto the bottom of the pipe and use threaded pipe to build the base. Or just weld a base from scratch right on there. Or build one out of wood.