Homemade Skateboards
Howdy,
I am a skater from Brisbane and I have been tempted for a while to create my own longboard. I have researched into the topic and found two prominent sources of wood; canadian maple and baltic birch. After finding this I have, with the help of others, found two websites to purchase from.
1. Breers (or something like that) which has roughly 30" by 9". I have also heard this is sold in bulk of 100 veneers.
2. Roarockit which sells kits of air press and, depending on which kit, tools such as sanders etc. including a foam molder. (I have most tools needed, but i hear that the air press is great).
I was wondering if any one has any suggestions for either wood or places to buy wood. I was firstly thinking of making a gnome type board but depending on limitations i'm happy to venture (as long as it isnt to hard). Also, if i decide to go with the bulk order, i am looking for people, in the brisbane area, or further, that wants to take some veneers.
Cheers
I am a skater from Brisbane and I have been tempted for a while to create my own longboard. I have researched into the topic and found two prominent sources of wood; canadian maple and baltic birch. After finding this I have, with the help of others, found two websites to purchase from.
1. Breers (or something like that) which has roughly 30" by 9". I have also heard this is sold in bulk of 100 veneers.
2. Roarockit which sells kits of air press and, depending on which kit, tools such as sanders etc. including a foam molder. (I have most tools needed, but i hear that the air press is great).
I was wondering if any one has any suggestions for either wood or places to buy wood. I was firstly thinking of making a gnome type board but depending on limitations i'm happy to venture (as long as it isnt to hard). Also, if i decide to go with the bulk order, i am looking for people, in the brisbane area, or further, that wants to take some veneers.
Cheers
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ashley Armitage on
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dad just ordered some baltic birch from someplace in brisbane. it was the closest place to our town that sells/orders it in. ill find out for ya wat the shops called and wat part of brissy it is in for ya
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Permalink Reply by Dan Mactaggart on
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thanks mate, are you sure its veneers. Thats a great help though, ive been looking around brissie ;)
Ashley Armitage said:dad just ordered some baltic birch from someplace in brisbane. it was the closest place to our town that sells/orders it in. ill find out for ya wat the shops called and wat part of brissy it is in for ya
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im not too sure, dad placed his order today for a sheet of 4'by8' sheet of it. Gonna cut it up and make 8 buttboards with a few mates. Ill find out when he gets home... which is late tonight or early morning. I also think that it is 13 ply thick
Dan Mactaggart said:thanks mate, are you sure its veneers. Thats a great help though, ive been looking around brissie ;)
Ashley Armitage said:dad just ordered some baltic birch from someplace in brisbane. it was the closest place to our town that sells/orders it in. ill find out for ya wat the shops called and wat part of brissy it is in for ya
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Fitz on -
Search for your nearest plywood supplier. Almost all of them supply what you want, "Marine grade Gaboon Mahogany". The marine grade refers to the glue. It's suited to outdoors. 3mm sheet is perfect for pressing a concave board.
If you don't have a press go toothless
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Permalink Reply by Alex on
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I make my own boards out of either gaboon ply (exactly the same qualities as bb, hell of a lot cheaper to get aswell) or hoop pine which is a little stronger but i'm still testing with this one but i live in tassie so its irrelevant but yeah just my 2 cents
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Permalink Reply by Ash on
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ive used gaboon before and wasnt impressed. it is supposedly a hardwood, but its the softest hardwood ive ever used thats for sure. the flex it gave was very soft and spongy which didnt feel to great. i struggled to find anything other than the gaboon when i was looking, without paying nearly twice as much for BB.
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yeah thats wat i got just using the straight gaboon but now i'm using 6oz glass either side and its a lot less spongy more of a snappy flex but still not perfect. Thats what i'm trying to fix with the hoop pine
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Fitz on -
Balsa is a hardwood.
It's actually the grain structure that defines a hardwood not the compression strength.
Marine ply is easy to source and practice with until pressing techniques are developed. It's also alot easier to work with ply rather than single veneers. Less glue and quicker to lay up. First-time Homemade usually means limited experience, so I thought I'd suggest an easy way to get started. You might be surprised which 100% Australian made Speedboard company uses M/P.
Kernow Longboards were made from Hoop pine but went out of business because they kept snapping in half.
6oz makes a big difference when used correctly.
Ash said:it is supposedly a hardwood, but its the softest hardwood ive ever used thats for sure/blockquote>
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yeah it certainly does. thats what i got with my first proto it snapped halfway through a coleman and landed me flat on my arse. Wat thickness marine ply is being used, 3mm?
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Fitz on -
I've had success using 4x 3mm with 6oz on the very bottom with concave up to 24"WB (inner to inner).
5x 3mm with 2 layers of 6oz on bottom for 24"-31" WB.
Body weight is gonna play into aswell as flex preference.
Obviously more ply and/or glass is stronger and stiffer but is also heavier and costs more.
Don't waste your time or dollars putting glass anywhere in the middle of the deck layup as its useless there. It needs to be on the bottom for support much like a hammock or bridge. It also make a big difference to have it on top aswell but not compulsory.
You can get away with a very thin layer over the top of the glass to save exposing the glass.
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yeah in the middle it has no effect at all. on the bottom the glass is under tension and on top it is under compression so technically those forces should make for a stiffer board. I have made a dancer out of 5x3mm gaboon 40inch wheelbase inner to inner and that was quite a nice springy flex which was good but def not speedboard material. I think i will give marine ply a shot where your boards just cruisers? or for DH?
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by sean meaney on -
SHR use hoop pine vaneers with a hard wood core for his oldschool decks, they are fucking beautiful and tough as hell
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