Zero Waste Electric Longboard (Free)

This longboard was designed and made for a few reasons:

1. To build an electric longboard without spending any money on extra materials, using only what I had on hand.

2. To gain more experience in 3D modeling and printing

3. To give to my little sister when I was done

Although it is'nt the most powerful or fastest electric longboard, It can still get me going fairly quickly and I am 50+ Lbs over the weight limit of the electric scooter motor I am using.

All 3d models can be found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2975176 and I will be updating these soon. I will also be fixing the grip tape and board before giving it to my little sister.

I took an old electric scooter I have had for a few years that I grew out of and started stripping the scooter down completely to just the frame, being sure to document where all screws went and not lose them in case I ever needed to reassemble the scooter.

The drive train consists of the motor, chain, wheel, and frame. The only parts needed from this are the motor, and chain, but it would be possible to have a normal longboard truck in the front with the scooter in the back, making it easier to build, as no 3D printed parts are needed.

I then began taking apart the throttle and brake mechanism, discarding all but the plastic-twisty-part (yes, that is it's official name) and the wires (this does not include the brake line). After completing these steps, if desired, the old frame can now be used as a normal, but more rugged push scooter.

After sourcing all parts from the scooter, I could finally begin building! I took measurements and drew up the parts I needed in Fusion 360, a great piece of software that is free for students, startups, and hobbyists. I will have a download link for all of my models at the end of this instructable and in the description of my YouTube video (my channel is SplixFPV).

I printed all of the parts in some cheap PETG I had laying around on my Anet A8 and glued them together. See my YouTube video for more precise instructions.

I started with using some short wood screws to attach the motor mount to a longboard I built a few years ago. I then drilled six holes into my wheel, spaced the same distance as the holes in the sprocket (the sprocket pictured above is the V1 sprocket and has been updated). I then reattached the wheel and mounted the chain. For now there is no tensioning system, and it works well without one, but I will add one in the near future and upload the model to this instructable. Be sure to tighten the scres in a pattern, the same way you tighten lugnuts on a car. The sprocket I modeled is the equivalent of a #25 sprocket, so I desired, a metal sprocket can be purchased and used for increased durability.

When using the scooter, there is a button being pressed by the brake that turns off the motor when you pull the brake. To trick the ESC into thinking you are not using the brake, you must wrap the button in tape to press it down, making you able to mount all of the electronics in the original box.

I took the box out of the scooter, and threw all of the electronics back into it and mounted it to the bottom using the plastic tabs, and over some time I accidentally broke two of the tabs (I was lazy and only used two screws), so I fixed it with a random corner bracket I found. The original batteries are lead acid, and are very heavy, so I would suggest soldering on some connectors and replacing them with some LIPO batteries. If you use LIPOs, be cautious as they are very dangerous, and do not use the built in charging circut. Also be sure to match the voltage of the current batteries, so you do not fry anything.

The final step is to ride it! To start, push off to gain some speed, then apply throttle to turn on the motor (the ESC does not allow you to go from a stand still). Please be careful and always wear a helmet! I am not responsible for any injuries or damage from this project.

As this was just meant to be a quick project for my little sister, nothing is finalized and will be updated. I plan on eventually upgrading to LIPO batteries and add a chain tensioner. I would also like to build myself a more powerful, brushless powered longboard in the future, but I currently do not have the money to do that as I am currently invested in a few other projects. Please let me know what you thought of my fist instructable and vote for me in the make it move contest. I forgot to mention, that I will also be machining the sprocket out of aluminum to add durability.

Thank You!