Anyone ever built a toboggan?

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  • Willin'
    Yeah well, Dedood abides!
    • Jun 2002
    • 5259

    Anyone ever built a toboggan?

    We attended the US Toboggan Championships at the Camden (ME) Snow Bowl last year and had our eyes opened. Determined to return this year with an entry, we promptly forgot all about it until today. I need to come up with a 2 person sled in a hurry! Anybody ever built a racing sled before?

    I'm looking for materials/ engineering advice as the construction guidelines are fairly wide open.

    Thanks!




    Plures Naves Quam Mentes!

    More Boats Than Brains!
  • S.V. Airlie
    Ancient Mariner
    • Dec 2006
    • 63914

    #2
    Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

    I'm confused..Are you thinking of toboggan, sled, luge..?

    Comment

    • rbgarr
      43.50.918 N, 69.38.583 W
      • Apr 1999
      • 25479

      #3
      Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

      The Apprenticeshop is holding toboggan making classes this winter for those with the same desire you have to enter 'The SnowBowlApocalypse'. They've got advise, plans and a design.
      For the most part experience is making the same mistakes over and over again, only with greater confidence.

      Comment

      • Willin'
        Yeah well, Dedood abides!
        • Jun 2002
        • 5259

        #4
        Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

        Originally posted by S.V. Airlie
        I'm confused..Are you thinking of toboggan, sled, luge..?
        I was using sled generically. As the header and the opening sentence specified toboggan I dared to use a colloquial term to try to sound hip.

        I'm not.

        Sorry for the confusion.

        Thanks!
        Plures Naves Quam Mentes!

        More Boats Than Brains!

        Comment

        • StevenBauer
          LPBC member
          • Jan 2000
          • 23277

          #5
          Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

          I have. It was a fun project. Quarter sawn ash planking. Black Walnut frames. Stainless screws. NE Ropes braided line. Custom sewn foam/nylon cushions. The materials alone cost more than just buying one at LL Bean! It's pretty big. Easily holds five or six people.

          The hard part isn't steaming the planks to shape, it's getting it all lined up and screwed together. The only thing I'd do differently might be to rivet it together instead of using screws.

          I made the outer planks a little thicker than the inner planks. This helps a little with tracking straight and true.

          Gimmee a sec, I'll go take a picture.


          Steven
          Last edited by StevenBauer; 01-14-2012, 06:46 PM.

          Comment

          • StevenBauer
            LPBC member
            • Jan 2000
            • 23277

            #6
            Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?







            Our ceilings are just over nine feet high.

            Comment

            • Willin'
              Yeah well, Dedood abides!
              • Jun 2002
              • 5259

              #7
              Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

              Originally posted by rbgarr
              The Apprenticeshop is holding toboggan making classes this winter for those with the same desire you have to enter 'The SnowBowlApocalypse'. They've got advise, plans and a design.
              The SnowbowlApocalypse? I like the sound of that! Perfect time for a first entry.

              Thanks for the Apprtenticeshop idea, but I think I prefer to muddle in blindly with a little help from my friends.

              I'm wondering if it's advantageous to build a light sled (toboggan, Uncas!) and keep the weight up high or build it to the max weight, which is 75 LBs. with pad?

              Is increased wood/ice contact area faster or slower?

              Is flexibility faster or slower?

              That kinda stuff.

              That said, I'm considering adding a mizzen mast and sail for dramatic effect. Might as well have a good showing if I can't possibly win, eh?

              Here's some footage from last year.

              Plures Naves Quam Mentes!

              More Boats Than Brains!

              Comment

              • Willin'
                Yeah well, Dedood abides!
                • Jun 2002
                • 5259

                #8
                Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                Originally posted by StevenBauer






                Our ceilings are just over nine feet high.



                What a beauty Steven!!!

                Questions:

                What materials(please don't say mahogany), how wide, how long, how many passengers and how much does it weigh? Is there a sidecut there? It looks narrower in the waist.

                Did I mention it's beautiful?

                Ooooops, just saw the prior response!

                Thanks Steven!
                Plures Naves Quam Mentes!

                More Boats Than Brains!

                Comment

                • StevenBauer
                  LPBC member
                  • Jan 2000
                  • 23277

                  #9
                  Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                  I think the flexibility/weight thing all depends on weather conditions on the weekend of the event. When it's really cold and the track is very hard a different toboggan will be faster than on a warm, slushy soft track. One year that we were there it was so warm they had to cancel the second day and cram the whole National Championship into one day.
                  Don't forget about your outfits. It's very important that your costumes reflect well on the Forum. You are the officail WBForum team after all.



                  Steven

                  Comment

                  • skuthorp
                    Senior Member
                    • Jan 2002
                    • 73622

                    #10
                    Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                    Yes, out of an old fashioned fridge door. The kind with curved edges. Took 3, and we built a course down between the lodges out onto the tennis court. Only to be attempted after several jars. Somehow we never killed anyone.

                    Comment

                    • Willin'
                      Yeah well, Dedood abides!
                      • Jun 2002
                      • 5259

                      #11
                      Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                      Originally posted by skuthorp
                      Yes, out of an old fashioned fridge door. The kind with curved edges. Took 3, and we built a course down between the lodges out onto the tennis court. Only to be attempted after several jars. Somehow we never killed anyone.

                      Yeah, we used to ride an old early 50s Buick hood down the hill when I was a kid. Lots of volunteer riders going down, not so much dragging it back up.
                      Plures Naves Quam Mentes!

                      More Boats Than Brains!

                      Comment

                      • StevenBauer
                        LPBC member
                        • Jan 2000
                        • 23277

                        #12
                        Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                        I'm not sure if it's dimensions qualify for the Championships. I made it years before I even knew about them. It is: 16 1/2" wide and 103" long. The frames are 1 1/8" by 11/16" and beveled to be easier on the fanny. The outer planks are 3/8" by 2", the 6 inner planks are just over 1/4" by 2". I'm going to bring down the scale and give it a weigh.

                        I have plenty of Black Walnut you could have for frames.

                        Comment

                        • StevenBauer
                          LPBC member
                          • Jan 2000
                          • 23277

                          #13
                          Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                          Ok, Mary helped me, it weighs less than I thought, exactly 20 pounds.

                          The countersunk screws come up through the Ash planks and into the Walnut frames. Then I melted candle wax over the screw head and scraped it flush. So no drag from the screws.

                          We used to go down the ski hill at my High School in the bottom half of a whitewater kayak. Man was that a rush. The only craft to ever make it to the rusty barbed wire fence at the bottom of the hill!

                          Steven

                          Comment

                          • Eddiebou
                            Senior Member
                            • Aug 2010
                            • 1039

                            #14
                            Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                            I want to know, What's in the guitar case?

                            Comment

                            • StevenBauer
                              LPBC member
                              • Jan 2000
                              • 23277

                              #15
                              Re: Anyone ever built a toboggan?

                              Originally posted by Eddiebou
                              I want to know, What's in the guitar case?
                              The one on the right is an old beater that I traded a half ounce for back in the 70s. The one on the left is a Cedar top Seagull.


                              Steven

                              Comment

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