I’ve been wanting to put a recess in a board where the traction pad would go so the pad would sit down in the blank and be flush with the deck. Anyone ever tried this? I know, I know, its probably more work than it is worth but it seems like it would make the board look more fluid.
Kneepads (made of various cushiony materials) are quite common in kneeboards nowadays and are often recessed so they are flush with the deck’s surface.
It would be a lot of routing on the blank, plus the hassle of pooling resin in a recessed area. If you do go forward with this, cut the recesses at about 1/8" deep. Textured pads are generally 1/4, and smooth ones are 3/16". If you recess any deeper, the deck will probably be uncomfortable when paddling and more likely to trip you up when walking it. Post a photo if you do it.
getting closer to the core foam ?could be a negative to consider…as power gorilla astro deck pads are not enough to protect the glass foam matrix from deterioration from concentrated weighting consistant with powering traction pad performane turns… strong boards catch more waves…ambrose…and the lifetime achievement award gets taken away from Donna Karan and given to my old board…