Imagine waking up on a sunny day with your planned skate rides with your friends in your head. You prepare your gear and skating equipment, thinking of the routines you want to perform in your favorite street obstacles.
But as soon as you stepped in, you noticed skate-stoppers were where there was none. So, today, let’s learn how to remove skate stoppers.
This article will tell us more about these deterrents and how to deal with them for better and safer rides.
Table of Contents
Steps to Remove Skate Stoppers
Inventors of skate stoppers made these metal plates to keep skaters from plaguing specific places. Nonetheless, these are temporary, and we have the following steps to help you take off skate stoppers.
Still, please note that removing the stopper is not approved by those who put it there in the first place.
Step 1: Prepare Your Tools
Removing skate stoppers can require almost the same tools as installing them. However, not all skate stopper designs are the same.
Hence, experts on Reddit have combined opinions as to what to use when removing these skate deterrents.
Suggestions were hacksaws, crowbars, plasma cutters, or similar objects with the assistance of some elbow grease.
But for this tutorial, we need the following:
- A hand drill designed for poking holes paired
- An appropriate drill bit for metal objects.
- A hammer or a crowbar.
Step 2: Drilling
The next thing we should do is weaken the deterrent’s attachment to the ledge or any surface. So, slide the bit into your hand drill.
Point the bit against the mounting hole of the skate stopper and begin drilling down or against its mounting surface. We aim to weaken the stopper’s mount and make it pop partially.
Note that we shouldn’t get too deep against the mounting surface of the stopper. Otherwise, we can cause damage and some conflict.
Step 3: Pulling Off
The last step to skate stoppers removal is pulling them off the surface.
So, take your crowbar or hammer. Although a hammer can help a bit more in breaking the mount between the surface and the stopper, our goal is to slide the claw of either tool in the gap between the ledge and the deterrent.
Once the claw reaches deep enough under the stopper, begin to loosen its bond against the mounting surface.
Pull the tool in a direction that will widen the space between the deterrent and the ledge.
By then, either the stopper pops off, or you can pull it off by hand completely.
Conclusion
Skate stoppers can be a skater’s nightmare. Not only does it stop us from skating on our favorite ledges, but it also brings about some danger.
However, we should consider why skate deterrents are there. After all, stopper-filled ledge and obstacle owners have their reasons for installing them.
Hence, knowing how to remove skatestoppers isn’t a ticket to removing every deterrent you see. Instead, it’s only an early piece of information to prepare you if needed.
While the process is simple, remember to do it only once it’s legal and not destructive.
Hi, I am Charles Harris. I opened this site to write as much as I can about my biggest passion – skateboarding!
I started as a clumsy yet passionate rookie 10 years ago to now a still passionate yet much better skateboarder! But I have to tell you, the whole journey has always been fun and rewarding, indeed not without hardship.