Give your skateboard a boost by hooking it up to a battery-operated drill

By Bruce Brown June 1, 2016

Cheap and Easy DIY Electric Skateboard

If you’ve been itching for a cool board for local transportation, that itch may have gotten worse with the delays and the crazy-high prices associated with battery-powered boards. Well, here’s an electric board you can put together yourself.

If you have an ounce or two of DIY juice (well maybe a just a couple ounces), and a few dollars for some drill accessories, Igor from Inspire to Make can show you how to make your own powered board, as reported by Sploid Gizmodo.

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So the “few dollars” applies if you have a suitable drill. If you don’t have — or can’t borrow — a pretty hefty portable drill, This project probably isn’t for you. Even if you watch the video a couple dozen times, if you hook it all up to a puny portable drill, you won’t go fast or far, and any chance of points from your friends will be lost in their laughter.

But let’s say you’re good to go. You’ve got the drill, you’ve got a good vise and the other bits and pieces you’ll need, as well as a flexible drill bit extender.

The demo ride in the video looks like fun and none of the other people in view are freaking out. It’s a little hard to see passers-by or to judge how fast the board is traveling because the video is sped up a bit in many spots. The rider has the right bent-knee posture for control and that’s a good thing because to reach the drill, he has to bend down a bit. Clearly, if he were a lot taller, both the look and the ride control would suffer.

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Contributing Editor

Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…

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