How to make DIY wooden Pool trowels article courtesy of our friends over in Switzerland at Praise the Beast (DIY Pool in Zürich) and September Wheels.
Over the time, we got some experience with shaping concrete. And the first thing we learned is that we need good wooden trowels for the first contact with the concrete. Filling up holes and smoothing it roughly is the first step, waaay before you work with a metal trowel.
The problem is, where to get good wooden trowels, that already have a shape to them, to shape a corner or a pocket. Pudi from Germany made some very high quality trowels, also did Stan from the Black Cross Bowl / Port Land Gang. And there are the expensive, but awesome General Sherman Radius Floats.
The next possibility is to create your own wooden trowels using old skateboards. A skateboard with good concave has exactly the shape use can use as a trowel. And you recycle your old board, instead of throwing it away!
So here is the step by step instruction:
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1. Download our template File by clicking here.
2. Print the file.
3. Cut it out.
4. Draw it on an old skateboard.
5. Draw it. Yes.
6. Draw the handles on the nose and tail.
7. Yes. Drawing finished.
8. Now, cut it out.
9. Cut everything out. Take care of your fingers.
10. Connect the two handles with some wooden glue and screws. If you want, you can also use 3 pieces of the handle shape. This makes your final handle more stable and comfortable.
11. Sand the handle until it feels nicely in the hand.
12. Sand the trowel.
13. Finished Sanding
14. Connect the handle with the trowel with two good screws. Really tighten the screws, so they dont appear on the surface. Sand a little bit the trowel, to get a good smooth shape.
15. Finished
You see the radius of the float.
Fits well in the hand.
Building Port Land in Basel.
Thanks to Praise the Beast and September Wheels for the how to make a pool trowel out of an old skateboard deck article!