Are you a hoverboard lover or just an inquisitive engineer who is looking for new ways to test your skills? No matter what the answer is, you have been thinking about building yourself a customized hoverboard, haven’t you? Isn’t this exactly the reason why you have landed on this very page. Well, we are here to tell you that you can bring your dream to reality. We will offer you with a complete guide on how to build yourself a hoverboard that will make you look at least just as cool as those who are riding a store-bought one. So are you ready to get your hands dirty? Let’s dive in.
What will you need?
Of course, there are a couple of inexpensive essentials that you will need to gather if you want to make a hoverboard. Once you get a hold of all these things, the rest of the work is quite simple. You will just need to put everything together to turn it into an authentic hoverboard. Just make sure that you find the right products and put them in place correctly and you will make yourself a gadget that provides almost the same functionality as the hoverboard you will get from the market in hundreds of dollars. So here is what you will need:
* One 0.25-inch sheet of plywood
* One 0.5-inch sheet of plywood
* One battery of 12 volts and 12 amps
* Glue for wood
* Two scooter motors, 24 volts each
* A block of wood, 2” by 2”
* Screws
* Rubber wheels with a diameter of 1 inch
* Two 12 inch wheels
* Epoxy
Steps to build your own hoverboard at home
So now you have all the components with you. It’s about time you put them all together. Your job is simple. You just need to follow a few basic steps and you will have before you a brand new hoverboard to go cruising on.
Step 1:
Draw the frame of the hoverboard on the 0.25-inch sheet of plywood and cut it out. Now use this frame to trace out an identical shape on the same 0.25-inch sheet of plywood so that you have two identical pieces of plywood. Also, trace the same shape on the thicker sheet of plywood (0.5-inch sheet) to get another piece, thicker than the ones before. Now you should have three identical pieces of plywood for the frame.
Step 2:
Now place the battery on top of one of the thinner pieces of plywood and trace out the boundaries. Remove the battery and cut out along the traced lines to include a slot on your hoverboard where the battery will be fitted.
Step 3:
Now take the 2” by 2” piece of wood and cut out the length that is exactly the same measurement as the width of the plywood pieces. Now use a drill to make holes in the center of each of the ends of the wooden piece. These holes should be just big enough to hold the axle of the 12-inch wheels that you have with you.
Step 4:
To the same holes that you have drilled in the wood in step 3, add epoxy and mix it for at least a minute. Now insert the axle of the 12-inch wheels that you are using and screw them on tightly. Now let this structure rest for a day so that the epoxy stabilizes and the structure is hardened in its place.
Step 5:
After a day of rest, take the attached wood and axle and mount it onto the piece of plywood that has space for battery cut out on it. Use glue for putting these two structures together. You will also need to cut out two additional pieces of 2” by 2” wood and attach them onto the same piece of plywood, perpendicular to the direction of the first 2” by 2” piece.
Step 6:
Now using suitable lengths of 2” by 2” pieces of wood, make a compartment for the battery onto one of the other two pieces of cut out plywood. Now place this structure on the ground with the battery on top. Glue this onto the previously build structure.
Step 7:
Now you have to attach another piece of 2” by 2” wood such that it extends out the back side of the frame. Using the same procedure that you followed in step 3, attach the small 1” wheel such that it touches the ground. This serves as the balancing wheel on your hoverboard.
Step 8:
Now you need to attach something to the axle of both motors so that it produces friction against the motion of the wheels. You can use small rubber wheels or tape to achieve this purpose. Also, build mounting brackets for the motor which offers enough space to hold the axles. These mounting brackets will be attached to the perpendicular pieces of wood that are already a part of the structure. Attach the motor onto the mounting bracket with tape. Finally, connect the motors with the battery in parallel and include separate switches in both the circuits for separate control of the motors.
Step 9:
Now attach the thicker piece of the cutout plywood on top to cover your hoverboard and use screws to secure it. To give the structure a little more stability, connect the motor bracket with the axle of the wheels using a few elastic bands.
Conclusion
So you see how simple it is to enjoy a self-created self balancing scooter? It barely takes two days and that too because you have to wait for the epoxy to harden overnight. Once you have built and enjoyed your own hoverboard, you may even wish to upgrade to a more advanced model. You can find some excellent hoverboards from reputable brands at affordable prices. You may want to try these out for a change and find out what a thrilling experience it will be to ride one.