alright. so, Im semi-unemployed at the moment, which means its a great time to start building more longboards. I know NS loves longboarding in the summer, so I thought Id hype it up a bit.
I have 3 early in the works currently that will be for sale, as well as a large chunk of hard maple that needs cut up (tomorrow most likely), and will probably result in at least 3-5 other cores. Also will have a couple banana boards made from reclaimed dick pope jr water skis that will be super fun and up for grabs. two of these new boards are going to be lady specific (aspen+maple), so if your a girlie and lookin for some hot wood, heres the place to look.
Anyway, about the boards I'm building:
Not your typical ply construction, I use twin core overlapping maple V lam decks, pressed and formed with dual composite layers. I can do HDPE sidewalls and tip blocks, as well as any kind of composite work. Typically my decks are layed up with unidirectional (fibers run only one way) fiberglass that is specifically layered to provide torsional stiffness from foot to truck with a more flexible center section. Uni glass is stronger, lighter, and more controllable than woven stuff. I also have some top secret (like, patent bout-to-be pending) highly durable carbon lamination technology that I will be experimenting with shortly that will likely be included as well. I dont use wood glue, that shits weak and blows out. I use the same heat set epoxy many MAJOR ski manufacturers uses in their skis, and my cores maintain their life for a LONG TIME.
Graphic wise, the sky's the limit. I just got hold of a bitchin little airbrush, so I'm definitely going to be playing with that, although I typically work with spraypaint, razor blades and stencils, graf-style. All my stuff is cleared and fully wet sanded for that glossy, smooth, professional look. Oh yeah, I also now have access to a plotter, so I can do all sorts of complex graphics, letters, and the like.
While my current plan is to just go crazy on these suckers and auction them off when complete, If anyone is SERIOUSLY interested in a full blown custom, talk to me, and we can talk about it. (I require a $100 dollar deposit, and will provide a contract with an estimated end date) I know a couple of these boards will be spoken for, and It'd be nice to find homes for all of them prior to completion so i can dial in the layup for people's weights and riding styles. My prices run anywhere from $200-$350+ for a deck, depending on complexity of the layup and graphic. Sure thats alot, but these aren't budget boards, they are 100% hand made, and ride just as good if not better than anything else on the market, So i dont wanna hear any bitching! It takes me a ton of work to build one of these, and as it is I pay myself practically Chinese wages. The banana boards will prolly go for around 50 a deck, although Ill probably build those up into completes prior to selling.
I have posted these pics before, but I'll do it again for this thread, to show you what i do.
built this deck 5 years ago, and its still goin strong
Thinking about recreating this shape, as its one of my all time favorite boards.
This is my signature shape, and my favorite board Ive built to date (until this next batch gets finished!). its torsionally soft between the feet, allowing for independent control of front or rear trucks. think Salomon ERA snowboards. shit works, and you can see it. This board belongs to Unicorn, or whatever his SN is nowadays.
this is a wider version of that shape, with the addition of a nose kick. the paint and grip job is slightly crappy by my standards, but the kid this was for was being real impatient and wouldn't let me take the time to do it right. So excuse the imperfections there.
heres a deck ive been working on to replace the black gatorskin one at the beginning of the pics. its been roughly a a year and a half in the works (ran out of $$, and hand shaping stuff is a massively time consuming pain in the ass) buy some boards so i can finish it! I would like to play with laminating differently shaped layers to achieve this same effect on a more cost affective schedule, if anyones interested in that. Again, Salomon ERA style spine.
heres a shitty pic of the banana board im workin on. Few more to come like it. its got wheel wells and a mild kick formed from the tip of the water ski.
and just for kicks, heres my 'Bents, which gives you an idea of some of the painting techniques you can expect on some of these boards.
Sorry for the super long post, I hope its not for nothing!
