What is the Slippery material used on Sliders?

dabigkahuna 10-16-2007, 9:47 PM

We're building a slider and we want to make the sides of the slider slippery so that you just slide off it when you fall. We want to use the same stuff (looks like plastic plywood sheets) as the OWC sliders use, but we don't know what it is or where to buy it. Anybody know what that stuff is called and how much it costs.

(crack) · (crack) **Join Date: Sep 2006** 10-16-2007, 10:11 PM

I've seen one that just used old floor linoleum. Doesn't work awesome but it's cheap.

(tbl07) · (tbl07) **Join Date: Oct 2007** 10-16-2007, 11:16 PM

If there are any local Ice rinks in your area...ive gone to a few and they have given me the on material they used for the boards on the ice rink...You flip it over it is perfect and FREE

(hunter660) · (hunter660) **Join Date: Aug 2007** 10-17-2007, 5:09 AM

I've never seen a slider, but we use allot of UHMW here at work. It is SLICK. It should work real well in that application.

(tahoeguy7) · (tahoeguy7) **Join Date: Sep 2006** 10-17-2007, 7:26 AM

I think the "plastic plywood sheets" are probably made out of high density polyethylene (HDPE). You can find it on the internet but it is pretty expensive.

(andy_nintzel)

TREX works really good. the is composite deck board they sell it at Lows and Home Depot. A little expensive but it works great.

(romes) · (romes) **Join Date: Sep 2006** 10-17-2007, 12:34 PM

just go get some big white boards...dry erase boards

(cavlxenvy) · (cavlxenvy) **Join Date: Aug 2007** 10-17-2007, 12:40 PM

Second what Andy said. It's called TREX. It isn't cheap and you can get it at Home Depot.

(norcalbordr) · (norcalbordr) **Join Date: Feb 2006** 10-17-2007, 12:44 PM

I built mine out of trex and it works the best. Just make sure that you buy straight boards because they tend to warp and corkscrew. Just like any piece of lumber you buy, pick out the straightest pieces before you buy them. You don't have to put anything on it either. Water lubes it up perfectly.

dabigkahuna 10-17-2007, 3:55 PM

We are using a product similar to Trex (bender board) for the top 12" (its a 40 foot rainbow type slider). However, we want to make the apron sides of the rainbow slider smooth so that you can slide them as well, also to make the falls less gnarly. The approx. height will be 32", so we need to have the side pannels as smooth as possible. The concern with using the Trex for the sides is that the Trex is only 4" wide, so you will have 8 pieces of Trex required for the whole side. I imagine that there will be some gaps inbetween each piece of Trax. We would rather go with something that is more like a 4' X 8' sheet, that way there won't be as many screws and joints. Any suggestions for that?

(otiswunguy) · (otiswunguy) **Join Date: Apr 2002** 10-17-2007, 4:31 PM

You will need at least 1\2 plywood for backing. Then use the H.D.P.E. like clay said above if you want it really slippery. I also think linolium would be a good inexpensive alternative but it is a little sticky.

(andy_nintzel)

Sorry I didn't read exactly what you wrote. I would just hold on to the handle when you bail on a slider, most of the time you get pulled off of it and away from it. The emphasis of course on "most of the time." Dont waste money on the sides. That just my opinion tho-

dabigkahuna 10-17-2007, 8:30 PM

Yea, you're probably right, I'm sure just plywood would be fine for the sides.

(nautiquesonly)

Try a lexan type plastic very slick when wet and durable. Can be bought at a place called General Rubber and Plastics in Louisville KY and they Ship or may be able to tell you where to buy it where u are

(the_love_muscle)

I wouldn't put anything on the sides. It's only a little over 2 1/2 feet high. It's very unlikely you will hit the side when you come off.

(andy_nintzel)

Kahuna,

The gaps in the trex wont affect you at all, you wont even notice them. If you have to put something on the sides use treated ply. We made a wall ride and used Linoleum flooring on the sides, it work suprisingly well extremely fast.

(andy_nintzel)

I didnt say this but obviously you put the Linoleum over the Plywood.

dabigkahuna 10-18-2007, 11:22 PM

Thanks for all the help and advice. This slider is being built for all members of Oahu Water Ski Club and their friends, as well as the the other main ski club's members use. Our goal is to make a safe slider that lots of people will use and enjoy, so we are going over-kill on a lot of things. But...we want it to last, and we want it to get used, so we feel it's worth it to take this approach.

Aloha!

(whirli_7) · (whirli_7) **Join Date: Aug 2003** 10-19-2007, 8:24 AM

When we built one accouple of years ago, we just put a bunch of 12' x 6" pvc pipes next to each other on top of our frame. We had to put a few pressure cuts on the back side of them to get the bend for the kicker. But it worked great.

It ended up being very heavy though