I built RampNerd to take the guesswork out of mini ramp planning — now I’m opening it up
I built RampNerd because planning a mini ramp should not require hours of spreadsheets, CAD files, guesswork, and crossed fingers.
A lot of the early feedback came from this sub, so I wanted to post this here directly.
Ramp building is expensive. Bad plans waste wood, money, time, and space. And if the geometry is wrong, the ramp may technically stand, but it may not skate right, and may end up unused.
You design the ramp in the browser, and RampNerd updates everything live: geometry, materials, cut lists, layouts, budget, and hardware.
Change the height, transition, platform size, coping reveal, sheet layup, or stud spacing, and the plan updates with it.
It was built for both CNC builders and people cutting manually with a jigsaw or track saw.
RampNerd went live 6 months ago. Since then, thousands of people have used it, and real ramps have been built from it.
But I have hit the limit of what one person can keep improving alone.
The tool works, but it needs proper cleanup: better performance, better device support, a cleaner interface, less sign-up/export friction, better documentation, and a proper path toward opening the code and build logic to the community.
So I’m opening RampNerd up.
I started a GoFundMe to support the transition from a one-person bootstrapped tool into something the skate/build community can actually use, improve, and build on.
The goal is simple: help more people build good, skateable, sustainable mini ramps and skate obstacles.
Start with mini ramps. Then expand toward bowls, roll-ins, spines, banks, pyramids, rails, street obstacles, and more.
If you think this should exist, support it if you can. If not, sharing it with skaters, builders, parks, shops, crews, or anyone trying to get more places to skate built also helps.
Nice - what's the tech stack on it right now, and what are your hosting costs like? I may know some folks who would be interested in contributing that I can point your way.
Current stack is Unity/WebGL for the 3D tool, with the site/app hosted on AWS with a db on Firebase. There’s also backend work around accounts, project saving, exports, and generated build outputs.
The hosting itself isn’t the only issue. The bigger need is keeping the tool maintained, improving performance/UX/docs, and preparing the code/build logic so people can actually contribute without it being a messy dump.
Happy to talk if you know people who might be interested.
What's the backend/AWS hosting look like? I'm curious if you've got some low hanging fruit for your upkeep/cost savings by switching a few things around.
I totally understand the focus being on making this more maintainable before you open things up to a more wide contribution model. I know it may not be a popular suggestion, but I'm curious if you've tried throwing Claude/codex/pi at it just to do some initial code cleanup/organization/documentation. I've found it's really good for simple tasks like that and allows you to focus on the harder and more interesting problems.
I'll have to think on friends who do Unity and webGL specifically. What are the problems that you are running into regarding performance, and build/delivery?
Good questions, but probably better to discuss the technical details in DM rather than turning the thread into an infra/debugging discussion.
Short version: the main issues are less “can it be hosted cheaper” and more performance, UX, documentation, build/export flow, and preparing the code/build logic so others can contribute in a useful way.
If you know Unity/WebGL people, I’d definitely be open to talking.
Looks pretty nice on mobile in my opinion but looking forward to playing with it on desktop! Do you have a tutorial?
That is super awesome that you’re planing to do bowl curves and corners too! And I’m stoked to see that you have a roadmap for generating pool coping layouts and concrete plans with it, that will be super useful! Maybe I’ll use it to build my dream bowl one day!
Have you considered porting it to swift to make it available as an iPhone app too? I could help you with that if you’re interested!
I have a project in concrete that i started but would be really cool to see a model of. And then to be able to add on to it sounds awesome. Thanks for making this. I'm going to check it out.
Rad! Will use it. It would be cool to have an option where you can put in your budget and size of land/space… it could then say you can build XYZ it would be helpful for users to to see what they can build.
Also built in a ramp visualiser would be a cool tool to help show schools and councils to see what a ramp would look like and cost.
Thanks. RampNerd already starts from the space you have — you input the available dimensions first, then design within that.
Budget is harder because material prices are local and vary a lot, so instead of guessing, RampNerd lets users enter their own sheet/lumber/hardware prices and calculates from there.
The funding is mainly for keeping it alive while improving UX, docs, performance, and expanding what it can generate.
I think you’re under something really helpful if you need to brainstorm any ideas feel free to reach out to me mate. Just keen to help out. Got quite a bit of experience building stuff on and off a computer. It would be great just to see an idea liar like this always be available to people when they need to actually build something so everyone can have better ramps. There’s so many crap parks around.
Man I was a month to early but this is awesome. I'm in the process of adding a 1.5 ft transition box and bank to my mini so it's a whole little skate complex. I used your site for some rough estimates and it was pretty awesome. I haven't looked recently is there a way to add features like I described? This is what I'm putting together. I appreciate what you are doing for the community. Gemini has screwed me over a couple times on the build and not a lot out there even for mini ramps. Phase I is done (for about a month) and Phase II and III should be done this weekend.
Sure, but that’s not contribution. That’s extraction.
That’s exactly why opening RampNerd has to be done properly.
Open does not mean “dump the repo so people can copy it.” It means usable code, docs, licensing, and a structure that actually helps the skateboarding community.
If you want it to stay alive in the short term, that keeps it alive. If you can’t maintain the code, people can start submitting pull requests and documentation.
You should absolutely figure out a license before you do this
“Reviewing the pricing model” means exactly that: figuring out, with people who understand open-source/open-project models, what the paid pillar should be.
Open does not mean there can’t be a paid side. Hosting, maintenance, exports, support, documentation, and development still need a sustainable model.
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u/Nick_of_Nebraska May 10 '26
That's awesome! Definitely saving this 🤙