Board Builders

Sweet build Daniel. Is that a Jacuzzi out back, or did spirit world come to pay its respect?  

Nice work Witch-Doctor...  howdya get the CF to press in so well to the Wheel wells?

once i put the carbon on i chuck it back in the vacbag. So i just align the carbon so that it goes snug into the wheel wells

Does anyone know where to get vac bags? I've really searched around and can't find any. I live in sydney, so it would be nice if they were kinda close.

http://www.roarockit.com/d_builder.php   check these guys out, but there a bit expensive

you could try Carba-tec - they dont have the large bags (70"x20") but they do have the 47"x14"

http://www.carbatec.com.au/roarockit-thin-air-press-kits_c19154

113 Station Rd Sydney Auburn NSW 2144 Ph: 02 9648 6446

Awesome! sounds good. I haven't been able to do very technical builds so far, so this and a bit more experience will really help. Thanks heaps

Do you actually NEED to use the breathing net? or is it just an option?

Also, do you know any laces in sydney to get maple? or alternately fibreglass and bamboo?

You could try Briggs Veneers (http://www.briggs.com.au/veneer_skateboard.php) - I've heard they have Maple - it's hard to come by in AUS - impossible down here in Melbourne.  Bamboo up your way... hit google.  Fibreglass and more exotic reinforcement (Carbon Fibre, etc) you could try Nuplex (http://www.nuplexcomposites.com/australia/?q=node/52) - I use them in Melbourne and they're pretty good.

Iconic Pintail: 36 x 9.5 nice mellow concave for cruising and bombing hills, hardwood core with bamboo on the outside faces 

Thanks. has been so helpful

what way does the veneer go with cross, face and cross-band

Hey Deeks or anyone, i emailed Briggs a while back and they only had face veneers. Anyone have experience with it? I'm guessing it's not going to be very strong?

@Will: I understand FACE just to mean a higher quality veneer with little to no defects/knots in the grain - you would put it on the "face" of a project (the visible sides) as it looks good.  The stuiff that goes in the middle can be less attractive as it's there for strength and unless you have a monumental de-lam - you'll never see it again!

@Dan: When you are making a deck, the strength is derived from having plys of veneer with the grain at 90 degress to each other as it is laid up.  a lot of decks are laid up something like this (even the commercial stuff)

• Face (grain length wise)
• Centre (grain length wise)
• Centre (grain length wise)
• Cross-band (grain width wise)
• Centre (grain length wise)
• Cross-band (grain width wise)
• Cross-band (grain width wise)
• Face (grain length wise)

Therefore an 8 ply deck - this principal of alternating grain is what every plywood board is all about - generally plywood manufacturers alternate every 2nd veneer, but with a skateboard/longboard, it can vary.  hope this makes some sense!

@Will - sorry, you may find that Briggs were talking about very thin veneers (something under 1mm thick, genrally 0.6mm) which are used to cover chipboard or MDF and are appearance only veneers - so yeah, too friggin thin to be practical.

There was someone a month or so back who went to Briggs and got good longboard lengths of the stuff - I rang thewm last year and they had some gear, but it was in short lengths (no good for Longboards at least) so maybe their stock vary with availability....

The Real Thing 001 Quad axil torsion core with all sorts of secret stuff ;) & TRT 002 12 Ply. off to new homes. Enjoy

Cheers

Mark

Custom Boards

Do you guys have any idea how much 8 plies of veneer from briggs (using Deeks' concept) would cost?

just give 'em a ring Dan...

will do

I've got my most recent board in the press. It's looking good

good to hear Dan - post some pics...

I just got my board out, and because the wood i used for it was just some offcuts, I grabbed enough for 2 boards, so i've just taken my first one out and popped my second one straight in.

Been a bit quiet lately lads (and ladettes) - had been keen to push the TAP bag hard recently so went for a 2" drop with agressive concave.  Here it is - I guess its close to a Landyachtz Switch.

42" x 9.5" with 35: WB and 3/4" concave - Hoop pine ply, CF bottom.

More photos on my ASRA page if you're interested.  Cheers.

to clarify - the TAP bag needed some asistance!  plenty of clamps and it was done in 3 presses as I was using 3mm ply which I doubt this bag would have been up to in one press!

good effort Adam!!!! your a pro at your vac bags haha, but boards looks mad!

oh really haha, sorry! but still good job deeks

yeah - I'm sick of being called feels...!  damned auto-correct!  thaks for to compliments witch-doctor.

here it is ready for a weeknd's worth of thrashing (assuming it doesn't piss down in Melbourne!)

Sick effort Deeks, classic typo Gide! How is the knee Adam, are you able to skate?

thanks Flobo - Hoop pine is quite good, but it is soft, so you will need to give it a light coat of epoxy to potect it.  I've used 1.5mm hoop pine ply and 3mm hoop pine ply and the 1.5mm (obviously) was easier to work with complex bends - it behaves much closer to an actualy single layer of veneer.  I generally use 7 to 9 "plies" depending on what I'm making but if you are reinforcing the bottom with fibreglass or CF, then 7 is generally enough and keeps the weight down, but don't expect a 1.3kg Fat Pigeon type of outcome!  The hoop pine i've got in the past is AC - not sure it's marine grade but it does have waterproof glue ratings...  Like I said, it will need sealing via expoxy or paint to protect it from water and minor damage.    

Does anyone know of the cheap online shop based in Adelaide that has cheap prices on epoxy resin? I know I saw it when I once read through every page of this group, but not too keen to do that again.

Thats the one, cheers Deeks. Do people have experience with West Systems? Heaps of people have recommended it but then they always say "Not intended for clear coating". Does this mean don't use it as a lacquer or if you use it for fibreglassing it will not be clear? 

I've got lots of experience with West Systems epoxy...  I have found it to be excellent and no issues for clear costing.  Having said that, I have just started using the Nuplex (FGI) epoxy and found it to be even better and it's cheaper - particlularly in large quantities (5kg resin plus 1kg hardner for around $90).

How many boards do you reckon that would be able to do? Was about to spend about $60 on 1 litre of resin and 200 mg of hardener. Might head out to brookvale and check out FGI

I just bought 1kg of resin and the appropriate sized hardener (fast) from FGI in Melbourne and it cost $39.  When I put the CF on the bottom of my last board I used 130ml of resin to wet it out completely and then 70ml for the second coat to make it all shiny (not neccessary really) - to seal the top I used 40ml for a very light coat and even then had some left over, so I reckion 1KG would do at least 4 boards - just depends on how well you go estimating what you need before you start I guess - I've had a bit of practice so getting better at this process...

good advice Adam - James - I would avoid trying to have a seam if at all possible.  Depending on how much flex the deck has when it comes out of the press, you may only need 1 layer of fibreglass to stiffen it up (how thick do you think it will be?) This was my approach: http://www.skateboardracing.org.au/photo/drop011?context=user from a while back - worked out OK

Where does everyone get their fibreglass in Sydney? Sorry; I'm sure this has been answered before but I can't seem to find it.

FGI brookvale

check this out guys...

Love it dude!! Simple Awesomeness!