I just finished gluing up a couple longboard skateboards blanks for my son’s xmas present (I needed one to 
). The woods I used were maple and purple heart. My question is should I glass them? They ended up 5/8" thick and knowing my son they will probably need to stand up to a fair amount of abuse.
Don’t bother with his. Glass yours top & bottom but don’t wrap the rails at all - flat cloths. Lets the wood expand & contract with humidity & will keep some flex in. 5/8" is a good size for flex - for adults, there would usually be 5-7 plys in that 5/8" 
Is yours glued like with stringers or flat laminations?
I’ve laminated a few canadian maple skateboards, both shortboards and longboards, and at 7 layers they are also 5/8" like most production skateboards. Rather than glass, I used spar urethane varnish which prevents water damage (though who skateboards in the rain anyway?) and is a nice glossy finish.
I would have suggested the same as benny…
Use epoxy though if you can, flex and memory is a little better than poly…
Paint your son’s board with epoxy, really brings out the grain, stops splintering too…
Thank you guys! I’ve been pondering this for awhile, and it finally occurred to me to ask. I think I’ll go with the Ben/Hicksy approach, but I was toying around with the marine varnish. I’ve already glued the blank up using RR epoxy using the stringered approach. I’m glad to hear the glass recommendation since I felt like it would benefit both strength and appearance wise.
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though who skateboards in the rain anyway?
i do it just give the possibility of spinning out that will give it a fishy ride plus its a really easy way to practice your cut backs and snaps (if you find a good hill with a steep slope next to it) i vote glass all but the rails and put something to prevent tail damage