I have been making longboard skates for the past few months and find it to
be a nice way to relax (I’m a furniture maker by trade).
Curious as to what methods people use for homemade decks. I primarily
use ash, walnut and random scraps of hardwoods. I join them with biscuits
every 6", which I am sure is overkill, and hand shape the profiles with
the band saw or a jigsaw.
I like to use a rub on satin poly finish with a coat of hi-gloss spray poly
for the final finish.
For traction I sprinkle anti-skid additive on the decks with a salt shaker
and add another coat of poly. What kind of traction methods have people
tried?
I have been lurking here for a few weeks, so forgive me if there is an
existing thread for this.
It sounds like you’ve gone the rigid route - I wanted to go the flex route ( just copying the couple of boards I’d tried ), so I started experimenenting with plywood .
After trying several different plys ( more out of having to take whats available than any desire to experiment ) ,
I’ve settled on 4.5 mm Fijian Kauri - but it has to be exterior or marine grade , interior grade has a thick center layer and just cosmetic veneer facing -while ext. has 3 equal layers so you get strength from the longitudinal grain.
This ( the Platypus ) is 2 layers of ply and 4mm strips of cedar in the middle. It’s the lightest board yet but probably the stiffest , most likely because this time I got a good concave into it …
I have some 5/16" birch plywood that I am going to put a flex into. I am planning on gluing two pieces together, then screwing drywall screws a few inches out side of the template. Suspending the sandwiched wood between two sawhorses, with some weight in the middle to add a concave.
Have never tried a plywood board, mainly because I’m 6’5" 250, so I always have to consider my size when building skates. That’s really the reason I have only done hardwood boards.
absolutely beautiful work!!! I hope I can make boards like that ! I especially love the retro shapes, I am a weird dude for a 26yr old… I cant stand the whole new-school generation of rip it and kill it riders, im more for the glide and slide and nooooooooooooooseride
Remind me a bit of some of Longboard Larry’s stuff - you’ve got your own thing going there bro , keep it up !
The press ain’t that grand really ( it’s not as big as it might look in the pic either)- the first few decks were done by propping off the garage ceiling until i used some stiffer ply and started lifting the roof truss.I got the idea for the threaded rod and 4x4s from Youtube I think.There’s tons of stuff online about skatebd pressing- guys use bricks piled on top , some just drive their truck onto the mold and park it there And then there’s more hi tech approaches too.
.My next step will be to make a couple of concrete pressing molds.
I think when you say concave you might mean camber ?Bear in mind you’ll have to bend the wood to shape before you screw it together( but you probly know that ) .Think of leaf springs sliding over each other.
One thing I dont understand, to achieve camber using plywood… how is this done??? do you use glue? do you wet the wood then put it in the press and such with bricks or rods to achieve the desire rocker or camber settings??
That’s how it was explained to me by a guy who does them in ply the next town over. You can make a press, liked posted on page 1. I would like too see pictures of a cement press.
Or, someone please correct me if I am wrong, you can glue up to pieces of ply and rest each end on a sawhorse for example. So that the piece is suspended in air. Add weights in the middle, and pretty much ‘eyeball’ the camber (thank you NuclearFishin ) you are looking for. And before the glue has a chance to begin to settle sink a screw every inch or two around the disired shape. Then cut it out with a band or jig saw.
Those are some impressive decks. Rad that you have your son into old school decks, which may be cool again, not really sure on how cool as I am 30 and out of it.
Have you ever used clear griptape? If so, do you know of a good brand. I have wanted to try factory grip tape but don’t want to hide the wood.
I havent tried any factory grip tape but i looked at it at the skateshop i bought my trucks from… i think id rather go with the beach sand and spray poly idea over the grip tape… just seems like it would mess up the feel and flow of the grain…yanno what i mean!!!
id say its not even looking thru a shower curtain…it more reminded me of those frosted bathroom windows… can baaaarely see the grain through it… so definitely not for me… id rather throw up some tropical sex wax on it lol
This is roughly the method I think I'll use , with a few changes -
I'll shape the master out of eps, rather than use a skate blank, and obviously the mold will be larger, as in longboard length.
My press is very rudimentary- using this method I can add tail / toe kicks , taper the concave etc, and hopefully have much more uniform camber or rocker.
Those big boards of mine are a crude knock off of the H a m b o a r d from California.
A different ride , heaps of fun.
strictly for personal use so if they see them I hope the guys accept the compliment . Imitation , flattery , and all that.