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The Bronx Skate Magazine

Skate Chef: How to Make a Manny Pad/Ledge for (Almost) Free

The manual is one of the most simple, yet infinitely complex tricks a skater can dish out. A manual pad is a great way to train and is a classic mainstay for any park and can be made with some simple pantry ingredients. It’s a great source of enjoyment and will certainly become a family favorite.

Ingredients:

Sourcing:

The most appealing aspect of this dish is its versatility and affordability. Almost all of these ingredients can be attained for free or almost free. The first, most important, and probably the easiest ingredient to source is the pallet. This will be the base and main protein of the dish. If you take a trip to an industrial section of your city or the back of any big-box hardware store you can find some of these for free being thrown out. The next ingredient is the ply wood. This one can be a bit trickier due to the inflation of lumber prices these days. This can be substituted for a top sheet of ply wood. This is a thinner, lower quality cut of wood that is used to protect the actual sheets during transport. These can sometimes be found at Home Depots or Lowes stores for free. Screws can either be bought for a few cents a piece or can be scrapped from other pieces of wood. Another optional ingredient is the bed frame. This can add a much needed zest to the dish, allowing it to be used for ledge tricks as well as manuals. These can usually be found on the free section of Craigslist or your or one of your friend’s attics. A final optional ingredient to use is a nice coating of paint. This will act as a preservative to protect your creation from the elements.

Tools:

Instructions:

Once you have all of your ingredients, the first step in making your manny pad is to either take the top boards off of the pallet if it is one of the smaller ones where the boards hang over the 2-by-4s, otherwise you can leave them be if you prefer. These pallets can be stacked like burger patties depending on the height you want your final product to be. A good set of dimensions is a height of 2 pallets and a length of 2 pallets giving you a final dimension of 40”x96”x12”. Remember to fasten the pallets together with screws if this is done. If you don’t personally have a drill, ask around to borrow one from homies that work construction, your parents, neighbors, anyone. Worst case, you can swap the screws for nails and use a hammer. The next step is to attach the ply wood top. The sheet may need to be trimmed to match the dimensions of the pallets. Use the drill to secure. From here you may want to garnish with a coat of paint.

Optional:

The final optional step is to add the bed frame for ledge tricks. You will first want to separate the pieces of bed frame into bars of angled metal. Use the angle grinder to cut away at the joints. I hope I don’t have to say this but I will anyway. Wear goggles for this step. Seriously. Next you’ll have to drill some holes into the metal bars. While you don’t need a counter sync bit, it will definitely make the final product Michelin star quality. Finally place the bars on the edges of the pad, screw them in place and you’re ready to eat!