NOTE: This is a “reprint” of my blog post to Kodak’s previous “A Thousand Words” blog.
As Diedra (another Kodak blogger) noted in her recent blog entry on home remodeling, digital photography is a great way to document the process and progress of those “do-it-yourself” (aka DIY) projects. This past Christmas I thought it would be fun to give Ross and Burke, two of my nephews, some DIY skateboards for them to help build and put together. This would give them a better appreciation for what actually goes into making a skateboard as well as the unique experience of actually building their own skateboard.
We bought the skateboard “blanks” from Mr. M’s World – a local retired industrial arts teacher, who makes and sells blank decks for high school shop classes, youth organizations and individuals. Originally, I thought this would be a really cool project that would be lots of fun. We have plenty of tools around the house from the remodeling we are doing and we are also increasing our own carpentry skills through our various DIY remodeling projects. So, I was pretty confident that this project would not be a problem for us. I have to admit, though, when we first saw the blank boards, there was a moment of apprehension as I thought: “hmmm, this might be more challenging than I thought it would be….”
The blank skateboard deck is made of layers of maple veneer that have been glued together and shaped with all of the concaves and bends of the board. The board is uncut, but comes with a basic pattern.
Being novice skateboard makers, we decided to stick with the basic design, in terms of cutting the board out. There were notches on the blanks, so that we could draw a “center line” down the middle of the board. We cut the pattern out and aligned it on the center line as well as with a third notch in the crosswise direction. Once we traced the pattern onto the board, it was time to cut it out.
We used a jigsaw to cut the board out. The next step was to clean up the edges and give them a smooth rounded finish. This was accomplished with a combination of using a power planer, a belt sander with coarse sand paper, and an electric hand sander for the final finishing touches. Now it was starting to look like a skateboard!
Next, we drilled the holes for attaching the skateboard trucks. (“Trucks” are the axles that hold the skateboard wheels.) A little fine sanding and a quick rub with a tack cloth and the skateboard was ready for painting. Depending on what kind of painting you do, you may need to pre-coat the board with polyurethane so that colors won’t bleed together. Alternatively, you can use paint as a stain by painting a light coat and rubbing it off so that the wood grain shows through.
There are places online where you can upload a digital image and have it printed on a blank, pre-cut board. I did consider trying to incorporate some digital images onto the skateboard, but in the end, we spray painted the designs and used a few decals on one of the boards. We used a few different colors of enamel spray paint – including a metallic green, which added some cool sparkle. Ross and Burke helped with the spray painting and the design. Once the main painted design was dry, we taped the board so that we could paint a different color around the edge of the board. We then sealed and finished the painting phase with a few coats of high gloss polyurethane.
Once the drying stage was over, it was time to assemble the boards. We applied grip tape to the top, attached the trucks with bearings and wheels, and the skateboards were complete. Burke and Ross were very happy with the finished results!
Here’s a short video clip of Ross taking his board out for a serious test run.