skateboard for learning to cross-stepI’ve been a Swaylock’s fan for a while and finally have a reason to post… I had been toying around with the idea of making an indo board when I saw Robbo’s “” thread. That thread was such an inspiration that I decided to try making one for myself.
Started off by researching different hardwoods… seeing what other people are using to make skateboards. I decided on red oak, maple and santos mahogany. I biscuit-joined the strips, thickness-planed the board to ~13/16" and cut the plan shape. I used a 1/4" rounded router bit for the edges, a barrel sander for the wheel wells and finished it with oil-based spar urethane. I made the logo (my avatar) using a linoleum block print.
Put on some sloped riser pads, RII 180 trucks and some 3DM Avila 75mm wheels. It’s 53.5" long and 10" wide, and it’s a blast to cruise around on.
(sorry about the pic size… getting them under 34KB was tough)
Swaylocks is a great community and a wonderful resource. I really enjoy reading the posts and learning from all of the people who contribute their time and energy to make this site what it is. Thank you Swaylock’s!
How soft are those wheels? I had some like that for sliding but the dark avalons are pretty harsh for cruising. The light colour ones are softer, the’re great for carving and real soft for rough roads.
Here’s the info on the wheels… the ones I have are translucent and have a duro of 73a, so they are really soft. They seem to roll over everything, but I haven’t noticed that they’re picking stuff up. I believe it’s PU instead of rubber, but I’m not positive. I haven’t noticed any bad vibrations either, just a really smooth ride.
3dm Avila Purple Skunk 75mm Skateboard Wheels
Purple SkunkSignature Purple Avilas in opaque or translucent colors available only at the (great skate shop in SF).
Diameter:75mm
Width:65mm
Hardness:72a
Formula:Soft
Color:Translucent Purple
Core:No
Surface:Smooth
Sugg. Use:Longboard,Slalom
Set of four wheels
any tips for posting a larger pic to show more detail? lower quality pic so the file size doesn’t start out as large?
i haven’t tried the board w/o risers, but i’ll give it a go some time. i put them on to help avoid bite, and it’s been doing the trick so far.
thanks for the compliment. i’m really happy w/ how it turned out. i’ve made a couple more and need to finish those up some time.
now i need to find a nice hill to see what the board can do. but for now, i get to practice my cross-stepping, which was the main reason for building it.
I would recommend this board for something like the hamboard, just a bit more practical. Check out the videos in the media session to see what it can do.
that is a whole lot of board… 80" is LONG… but as you said, it’s a great way to learn/practice classic cross-stepping. i imagine the $395 price tag would scare most people away. i might try making something a little longer at some point, but i have a hard time imagining strapping a skateboard to the roof of my car to transport it around.
thanks for the link… i know i’ll look at those boards some more. wish they had a pic of the fish.
cool boards and very cool videos… thanks for that timmy! one difference i would notice right away is the flex. i used hardwoods and my board is relatively think at 13/16", so there is very little flex. i think it’s a totally different ride. i will look at that site for future inspiration…
there are some pretty amazing longboards out there. i really enjoy seeing the variety. i went with hardwoods for a couple of reasons including cost and practicality… it was cheaper than buying a sheet of good ply (~$150) and easier to transport. i did consider plyboo and would still do so, but i really enjoyed working with hardwoods and plan on doing a lot more of it. if i had a garage, i’d be working on a HWS… hopefully someday soon.
here goes some more pics:
the deck
the bottom
#1, #2, #3
detail #2 (53" long)
detail #3 (42" long, for a friend)
sorry for the large images… i’ll be sure to post smaller pics next time… just excited to share since the original pics i posted were so small…
Sean, those are beautiful… especially how clean the wheel cut-outs are from your barrel sander. Nice work.
How many biscuits (what’s the spacing)? Did you vary the biscuit placements - 1/8" from top / 1/8" from bottom / 1/8" from top / etc. to give the joints extra stability, or was that not necessary? Thanks
thanks for the kind words! the whole process from beginning to end was new to me, and i learned a lot doing it. i’d never really used the tools i was using and i’d never really done any woodworking. i didn’t vary the spacing for the biscuits, but that sounds like an interesting idea. i set the biscuit joiner to 1/2" from the top, hoping to get the biscuits roughly in the middle of strips of wood. i put biscuits about 3.5" from nose/tail and then spaced them about 6" apart. i found that having the biscuits made it easier to line up during gluing and clamping. and i wasn’t worried about the deck/bottom lining up perfectly b/c i ran the glued-up plank through my thinkness planer.
not the best quality pic, but it gives you an idea.
i did the same spacing for all of the strips being joined, not accounting for plan shape… oops. the biscuit joints ended up showing on the edges where i cut through them. in some cases, i had to use wood filler where the glue didn’t fill the joint all the way.
with boards #2 and #3, i tried accounting for the biscuit joints and plan shape but still ran into some showing, but not as badly. i’ve learned a little bit more with each one.
I think the exposed biscuits look kind of cool. Like a ‘truth window’ in a straw-bale house. They prove you didnt veneer over plywood or use any metal hardware… nice work.
thanks again benny1! others who’ve seen the exposed biscuits also like the look, and i’m starting to appreciate it. it got me to thinking about trying to use dowels to give a similar effect. we’ll see.
