Skateboards

Last winter I came across the sport of longboard and slalom skateboarding at the Northern California Downhill Skateboarding Association at www.ncdsa.com. For those who don't know, longboarding is not about doing the kicks and flips that the kids do. It's more like surfing, or going fast down a hill, or slaloming around cones. It reminded me of the fun I had skateboarding as a kid and it appealed to me as a man about to turn 40. I had to try it and since I like to build things I set out to build one at once. It's the plywood and fiberglass slalom deck below that I call "NC". I tried it out as soon as the Chicago winter allowed and it turned out to be a lot of fun and I have since built several other decks.

Furthest to the left is a steel wheeled rollerskate screwed to a 1"x6" board. It works, but is very loose and not safe.

Second from right is a 40" board made from solid 10"x5/8" poplar. It worked fine for a while until I put wheel cutouts on it and then it cracked straight down the middle. Learn from my mistake, don't build a skateboard with poplar! Poplar is not a real hardwood and is weak. Before this I had made the "Big Kahuna" from poplar. It has survived because it's 1" thick and the stresses are low, but I won't build another board with poplar.

Big Kahuna

Shorty

Big Kahuna- 55" long by 9" wide poplar pintail with a 38" wheelbase. Lots of fun, is very stable, and feels more like surfing. As if I knew what surfing felt like. Really cool when the front wheels hit a crack and then after a long delay the back wheels hit it. I like to pretend I'm a surfer and try to hang five. Set up with my 76mm wheels, a wedged Seismic truck on the front, and flat Randal on the back it even can be pumped quite well.

NC- 32" long, 22" wheelbase slalom board. Made from fiberglass on plywood with 1/2" cambered deck for flexibility and energy out of the turns. I've haven't tried slaloming around cones yet, but I've been learning to pump thanks to Dan Gesmer's article. I can generate enough energy to keep moving along a flat road and on my favorite section of bike path, somewhat down hill, I can go to the end without putting a foot down to push. It's about 3/4 mile long. I put fast turning, spring action Seismic trucks on it with 65mm Krytonics wheels.

Shorty- compact 26" slalom board. I built it to fit into a suitcase. It's made from baltic birch plywood and is very stiff. With it's 20" wheelbase it turns sharply and pumps well.

The Torpedo- a 45" x 10" pintail, with a lot of flex. It's made from two layers of 1/4" baltic birch with a 1" camber using the Toothless method. It's like ridding on a moving diving board. I'm getting the hang of the rhythm needed to pump it. I bought 180mm wide Randal trucks for it and 76mm Krytonics wheels. The Randals are very smooth and can carve a nice tight turn. I have found that the larger wheels are key to going faster and further.

I rigged up a bike computer to the Torpedo with duct tape. It worked fine and I learned just how fast (or slow) I go. My pumping speed is 8-12 mph on the flats and I maxed out at a whopping 14 mph down a small hill which was fast enough for me.

Little Pumper- a very small, 26" x 8.625", elliptically shaped slalom deck with a 17.5 wheelbase. Made from the same material as The Torpedo, this thing is so easy to pump I'm going up hills now!