|
|
|
| Home Made Boards (6188 Posts)
|
| Topic |
Home Made Boards |
|
Wood
|
|
On 8/3/2005
Cody Clark
wrote in from
United States
(63.168.nnn.nnn)
A lot of boards are made from birch. it's pretty solid. pine will work because were making boards not space shuttles. Birch is both fairly hard and light thats why it is so commonly used. As for longboarding though you dont really want your board to be too light. Increaced weight results in increased downhill momentum as well as increased stability over rougher roads. I use a n old school Variflex voodoo and it weighs in the six-seven pound range. Which is actually pretty heavey compared to the lighter freestyle boards which usually weigh in the 5 pound range. Take it this is including all hardware( trucks,wheels bearings, rails,etc.,). I really wouldn't want a longboard with flex. It could create unessasarry stability issues. I'm making this bad ass longboard right now using a "pirated" state of texas country road 420 sign. It measures 10inchesX 5'6". I discovered that road signs are made with high quality wood( what actual wood I dont know) that they treat with some sort of inpenatrable enamel used for weather proofing. This enamel is virtually imppossible to take off. I used a hand sander, didnt work, the strongest enamel remover on the market, still didnt get it off. I think a belt sander might have been able to take it off but I didnt have any new pads for it so I never tried. I just painted over it with a wood color paint then I plan on staining the wood with a mahogany stain. I'm still in this process I just havent found time to do it. If you have any more questions email me at Nirvanaut@yahoo.com. I make freestyle, offroad, slalom, and long boards. Peace.
Cody Clark
|
|
|
|
|
repairs
|
|
On 8/3/2005
Cody Clark
wrote in from
United States
(63.168.nnn.nnn)
For chips in boards I have been told to use Non-plaster poly filler. Its used for drywall so you can probably find it at home depot or something. Its easy to shape using your hands and hardens and bonds to the wood. It can be painted as well. If ur using it on a board that had natural wood color it isnt usually reconended, but you can buy this paint that looks like wood color. Kind of a beige. Then I suggesy staining the board so that the color is uniform throughout the board. It might not look perfect but its a 100 percent better than nothing. As for cracks try clamping them using C-Clamps. I use the big ones my dad uses for his trucks camper shell. Also if the cracks are toward the center of the board where you cant reach them I just thought of something that might work. Take your trucks off first. Then place some extra long bolts through them so that they sick out on both sides. Then use your C-clamps to force the bolts and wood closer together. Use wood glue along the cracks before you clamp them. if this doesnt help email me at Nirvanaut@yahoo.com and I'll reengineer something for ya. Peace.
|
|
|
|
|
Hardwood board
|
|
On 8/3/2005 Oscar Maturana
wrote in from
United States
(65.43.nnn.nnn)
I made a 24"x6.5" board out of solid hardwood, i think its pine. Has no flex at all and is kind of small, me feet hang over the side. But it still is a great board. ?What is the best type of wood to make longboards?Is it bad if a board has no flex?
Rock on dudes!
|
|
|
|
|
OK, but...
|
|
On 8/3/2005
JBH
wrote in from
United States
(165.134.nnn.nnn)
Thanks for the input, herbn (do you pronounce the h, or do you say "urban?). :-) I agree that a 12% difference in core thickness is significant, but is it enough to account for one board being too stiff for a person weighing 210 lbs. or more (Eddy Martinez), and the other being too flexy for a person weighing 155 lbs. (me)? FWIW, the stiff board weighed 27 oz., the second weighed 21 oz. About 1 oz. of that difference was materials, by my estimation, while the rest was resin.
Shapeshifter or cnova, care to "weigh in" on any of this?
|
|
|
|
|
resin efficiency
|
|
On 8/3/2005 herbn
wrote in from
United States
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
less resin is supposed to make the structure more efficent, higher strength to weight ratio. Of course more resin will strengthen your board but it weighs more than an increase in foam thickness or a bit more glass or carbon. Wait, .3 difference in core thickness? that's 12% cores affect strength geometrically so that's actually a significant change.Trail and error, that's it. Try to get an equal or slightly thicker core with your new skills the boards should be even better than the first, if your skill/luck with resin mixing is consistant.
|
|
|
|
|
How does amount of resin affect stiffness?
|
|
On 8/2/2005
JBH
wrote in from
United States
(165.134.nnn.nnn)
Paul Graf and I have tried our hand at making a few vacuum-bagged foam core slalom boards based on Paul Dunn's recipe. The first two turned out incredibly well given our inexperience. The next two turned out very flexy without having changed much in the materials. The later foam cores may have been SLIGHTLY thinner (.22" or so compared to .25" or so for the first two), but otherwise, the main difference, we think, is simply less resin; we got better at our squeegeeing technique and simply needed (and used) less resin on the later two boards. Perhaps we're missing some other cause, but I still think the question is relevant: Does the amount of resin in a board significantly affect the flex?
Here's an example. Let's say you make two boards of the same size, shape, and materials. The only difference is that one uses, say, 10 oz. of epoxy resin and the other uses 20 oz. of the same resin. Will the second one be significantly stiffer than the first? If so, is there any way to predict how much? And if it is stiffer, WHY is it (i.e. what physically happens that makes it stiffer)?
In the above example, I'm also assuming that each amount of resin is enough to thoroughly wet out the materials used without any voids or dry spots. Picture two peanut butter sandwiches; both have enough peanut butter to cover the surface of the bread, but one has a thicker layer of the stuff.
Any intelligible answers will be greatly appreciated.
|
|
|
|
|
Repairs
|
|
On 8/2/2005
Shane
wrote in from
United States
(130.132.nnn.nnn)
I loaned an old friend out to a kid last week and it impacted a wheel rim.
It's not a home-made board, but it is a valuable and much used and cared for board.
Sorry if too terribly off topic, but I did not know where else to go.
The damage is just to right of the tip of the nose, about 1 inch down. It must have been a hell of an impact because it caused the laminations to almost rupture. In any even they pulled apart in what looks like a crack that goes diagonally across the laminations (four wood plys, top an bottom fibreglass sheets.) The bottom fibreglass sheet was split, and in a way where the material it split on an angle. At present, the bottom of the split is wedged a bit and the plies are wide open. This is probably good in that the gash is open and I could fill it with plenty of glue or ???
I don't think it is game over for the board. I'd like to attempt a repair. So, how would you go about doing this. What materials would you use? How would you clamp it? Any and all advice is welcome, and the more specific it is the better.
Thanks in advance.
Shane
|
|
|
|
|
Bending 1/4 ply
|
|
On 8/2/2005 Ted
wrote in from
United States
(66.91.nnn.nnn)
Foam molds work great for 1/16 veneers or thinner.
1/4 birch ply is made up of alternating layers of veneers pressed and glued flat. Once they are glued, thats it, its a solid, pretty much like a milled piece of solid birch. Its not going to be the easiest thing to bend around a complex 3D shape.
The rule of thumb for vacuum bending is easy. If you can bend, by hand, one sheet of veneer over your mold (foam or whatever) you probably can bend 3,5,7 or 9 sheets. The same rule applies with the 1/4 ply. If you can bend one piece over the mold by hand you can probably bend three to make a 3/4" deck.
When bending 7 sheets of veneer for a deck each of the layers have a slightly different shape. The difference in shape of each layer, once glued is what holds the bend. Here is the problem with using 1/4 ply. If you are using 3 sheets of birch ply you only have 2 gluing surfaces resulting in a deck that will not, over time hold its shape as well as a 7 layered veneer deck. Why? The 1/4 plywood is trying to bend back to its original flat shape and there are only 2 glue joints preventing it from happening. 7 thin, differently bent surfaces will always be stronger than 3.
Do a test with the ply, if it bends, it's will work ok. You may want to put a backer board under the foam mold to prevent it from warping when bending the birch.
on another topic, I have put a bunch of how-to video's on our site. Most of them are about trouble shooting our Thin Air Press but there is a 18 minute foam mold building video (not a skateboard deck) that may help anyone new to using foam for vacuum veneering.
Ted
www.roarockit.com
|
|
|
|
|
1/4" baltic and foam molds
|
|
On 8/1/2005
Julien
wrote in from
United States
(71.132.nnn.nnn)
Hey all,
I was wondering how well 1/4" birch will bend in a foam mold. I have successfully done a couple of cambered board using the force of gravity and heavy weights to induce camber but I was wondering whether it will be possible to press 2 or 3 sheets of this together in my vac bag with an appropriate foam mold?
Also to take into account is that the grain on the ply is running in the cross-grain direction (I know the plys alternate between layers but basically I have 2 lengthwise and 3 cross grain layers in each 1/4" sheet) I think in general this makes the board a little more torsionally stiff and am skeptical about getting any bends along the width of the board.
-julien
|
|
|
|
|
Jake's 1 wood deck
|
|
On 8/1/2005
Fatboy
wrote in from
United States
(67.94.nnn.nnn)
We've made solid oak decks that were over 5' in length, they work fine for someone who's around 200 lbs or less. Over that, they get a little flexy depending on width.
Whaddya weigh? How long of a deck are ya' lookin' to make?
|
|
|
|
|
makin a new board
|
|
On 7/31/2005 Matt
wrote in from
United States
(68.44.nnn.nnn)
im about to make about a 65 inch board thats 12.5 inches wide made out of oak haha its gonna be a big one... since no trucks fit that size there will be sharp cut outs for the wheels
|
|
|
|
|
solid wood
|
|
On 7/31/2005
david
wrote in from
United States
(67.101.nnn.nnn)
i made a few boards last year in the woodshop at the college i go to. if you choose the right woods they work just fine, i love the boards that i made. whats nice about it is thats its quite simple just design your shape and go...
IMG]http://academic.evergreen.edu/p/pridav25/sk8_photos/homebrew.jpg'>
this one was made out of curly broadlead maple its about 3/4" thick. 29" long 9.5" wide, a little bit of flex for me(i'm 140lbs) and i've skated the hell out of it since i made it, it has held up well
this one was a little more comlpicated but still pretty simple.....oak with 2 purple heart stringers and the center stringer is cuban mahagony, found in the scrap box no less...this board is 34" about 8" wide and is suuper stifff, no flex at all.
|
|
|
|
|
the original skates made this way
|
|
On 7/30/2005
Greg Olsen
wrote in from
Canada
(206.172.nnn.nnn)
The very first skate were made this way. Some experts still use this type of board. Luca G. in Europe, a dominant TS skater, uses a solid plank I beleive and Vlad P. on the East Coast uses a plank as well.
|
|
|
|
|
hardwood board
|
|
On 7/30/2005 Jake
wrote in from
(65.190.nnn.nnn)
I am making some solid hardwood longboards out of one piece of wood (no glueing)and cutting out a design.I have not really seen any like this an was wondering why? Will they not hold up? Anybody made a board like this?
|
|
|
|
|
Last-A-Foam SUppliers
|
|
On 7/26/2005 Yan0
wrote in from
United States
(67.81.nnn.nnn)
Started compiling a massive list of supplies, as I am completely out at the moment. The one thing that I can't seem to find (in the densities and dimensions I want) is foam. From the (limited) research I did it seems like Last-A-foam is the best bet, I asked PD who sent out an article about foam cores and thats what he reccomended so......... If any of you use something else and know where to get ahold of it, let me know.
I am looking for 10-15lb density, 10" or wider, and from 40-60" long. Thicknesses between 1/4 and 1/2 (the thicker stuff for the longer boards, still will probably need to shave some down). I just got off the phone with fiberglass supply, they can special order some, but it would be nice to avoid the hassle...
Ideas? Thanks
yan0
|
|
|
|
|
Honeycomb
|
|
On 7/26/2005
Greg Olsen
wrote in from
Canada
(206.172.nnn.nnn)
More pics of honeycomb core.
|
|
|
|
|
Glue not sticking to Maple
|
|
On 7/22/2005
Ted
wrote in from
United States
(66.91.nnn.nnn)
Hunter....I suspect you may be putting to little glue between the veneer layers or you are taking too much time to lay up the deck and getting it into the vacuum bag. A typical street deck uses 7 to 8 ounces of glue. A pintail longboard uses around 11 to 12 ounces. Use a small nap roller to apply glue and not a brush as you want an even coat of glue. Save the wetted roller in a plastic zip lock to save on glue for your next deck as a new roller usually sucks up a couple of ounces of glue.
White glue will dry in a vacuum bag, if not I am out of business here at Roarockit. When we teach classes we recommend using Titebond III. It has a 9 minute wet time, so it gives you a little extra time over conventional white glues to lay up your deck.It is also cheaper and less toxic than epoxy.
Gorilla glue will also dry in a vacuum bag but it may be a good idea to lightly wet the veneer with a spray bottle as the glue needs moisture, not air to kick it off.
|
|
|
|
|
park board project
|
|
On 7/21/2005 duane
wrote in from
United States
(165.121.nnn.nnn)
started a new one, a conversion of a big pig to a much lighter more functional pig.
I'm starting with a F13 33x11.5" pig, 7 healthy maple plies, some wear. A nice board but heavy, and the parks around here are tight. I've already drawn the basic shape of a Caster Inouye, but longer, onto the board. It won't get cut out 'til later.
I'm going to rout out most of the bottom of the board, between the trucks, 5 plies deep, and fill with balsa. Then a single layer of 10oz carbon for the bottom. then it gets cut out, and new wheel wells sanded in. it should come in around half the weight of the F13, albiet narrower. finish with sixtracks and 96a noschools
|
|
|
|
|
ah I see now..
|
|
On 7/21/2005
Greg Olsen
wrote in from
Canada
(206.172.nnn.nnn)
It is just the most recent poster who gets to be the dupe..
|
|
|
|
|
Unwanted advertising on my post
|
|
On 7/21/2005
Greg Olsen
wrote in from
Canada
(206.172.nnn.nnn)
Why am I an unwilling advertiser for Element and Flip skateboards?
|
|
|
|
|
honeycomb core
|
|
On 7/21/2005
Greg Olsen
wrote in from
Canada
(206.172.nnn.nnn)
Hi all back fom holidays. That pic I posted earlier is of 1" thick alu honeycomb with a bonded layer of 30 ga (approx) aluminum on either side. The piece you see has been run through the table saw to shave off full-length wedges for wheel clearance. I also ran the tablesaw through the other side just cutting the aluminum skin in lines that run the length of the deck. They are directly above the spine shown on the picture I posted. This allows me to bend up the edges, closing the kerfs left in the upper deck by these cuts. Doing so creates a concave....although a little exreme. I have to work on that for the next one...maybe use a narrower blade. Now I have to clamp the deck into a concave(kerfs closed) position and run fine weld along the length of these upper cuts to hold the deck in the concave shape and regain some of its strength. It was strong enough to stand on and ride previous to the wheel clearance wedges being cut off...but alas no more...I will likely spray the exposed honeycomb full of gap filling expanding foam and sand it down so the exposed honeycomb edges are just visible again then lay some carbon fibre over the entire bottom maybe over the top too with the edges of the top and bottom layers hanging out over the honeycomb core giving me a little extra width to play with. Vacuum bagged likely. And yes the hole drilling looks really bad in that picture. Sloppy sloppy. And I called the Carrascos on the sloppy drilling of the Axe deck in their first posting of it on the Vendors page. What a hypocrit I am :)
|
|
|
|
|
Bobs Jet Luge
|
|
On 7/21/2005
Fitz
wrote in from
Australia
(203.164.nnn.nnn)
Awesome stuff dude. Love your attitude toward what other people think, esp if they laugh at you. I get weird looks just because I ride a board at my age, but that doesn't stop me doin what I love doin.
Rock on man and keep us posted on your progress.
|
|
|
|
|
Blower board?
|
|
On 7/20/2005 Bob
wrote in from
United States
(69.251.nnn.nnn)
EBasil, Tell your kid that Batman's cape would get sucked into the turbine and blow it up.. This crimefighter has enough to worry about with his long hair.. Ha!
Yea the leafblower board pict is a hoot. But serious Try it on your own board. standing.. The neighbors are already used to me doing really strange things so I did not have problem, but you may not want your friends to see this. This is what I did a few times to prove what 3 lbs of thrust (my Eager Beaver cheap ass gas leaf blower) would do. I started the leaf blower tucked it under my arm and kicked my speedboard down the driveway. Gravity got me up to about 15 mph and I got into a tuck. The leaf blower sustained my speed for most of the mile long flat road. I got waves and laughs... but my neighbors expect no less. They have heard, but have yet to see the leaf blower on steroids...
thanks
bob
|
|
|
|
|
be my honeycomb
|
|
On 7/20/2005
FL
wrote in from
United States
(65.249.nnn.nnn)
Hexcel makes honeycomb for airliner flooring .Never tried to put a concave on it though . Some of the guys from santa cruz were using it for downhill..FL
|
|
|
|
|
"The Sound of Real Power"
|
|
On 7/20/2005 EBasil
wrote in from
United States
(63.206.nnn.nnn)
Bob, you are a stone maniac. That's incredible and the sound!! Wow.
My 4-year old wants to know if that's "Batman's car" and I have to say he's got a good idea for your outfit when you take that thing into town, to fight crime of course!
My wife saw the leaf blower board photo and said: "oh no, you don't!" Dammit.
|
|
|
|
|
