Composite sandwich skateboard

Step 9 Finish and RIDE!

Once sanded, you can spray it with some rattlecan gloss clearcoat lacquer and drill out the holes for the trucks.

You DID remember to mark the locations for the trucks, right? Because if you didn't remember to mark the trucks until the very end, you're going to give yourself a headache trying to find the right spots without ruining the board. Don't ask me how I know that.

Mount the trucks with some big ol' pimping wheels, slap on some griptape (not too much, don't want to cover up that nice finish), then go for a little ride.

Hope you enjoyed this, my first instructable. I'm interested to hear any comments or suggestions anyone has.

If you're curious about my surfboards, check me out at http://psychsurf.blogspot.com

Comments

[freeza36]

What type of wheels are those?

[crowd9]

Great (instructional, thorough, entertainin'!) ible! And the finished product is a unique deck that you made yourself. Awesome.

A note for those who have been discussing making one out of CF or FG, you could do that. It would take many layers, so to keep the expense (weight, do we care?) down, you'd probable want to use a cheaper core. This deck is thick because of the styro-core--which provides very limited strength, but has excellent/light-weight structure for supporting the outer layers, where the overall structural strength comes from (see bird bones and aircraft wing/monocoque design). But it is fathonable, that with vacuum infusion, and with a slow-cure epoxy, one could make the core from something that could bulk up and provide thickness, such as a couple layers of closed cell E. V. A. or even old denim. Then the outer layers could be CF or aramid/kevlar for strength. With enough aramid, you wouldn't even have to worry about truck supports, and it is cheaper that CF.

I'll try to get an ible of my own on the subject as soon as the weather permits. I hate to work composites in the cold (heaters, time, etc...)...

Using the vacuum and a whole bunch of old jeans (denim is an awesome, dense cotton fiber), I could prob one-off a deck using another deck as a male mold in an afternoon. Check back in may-ish...

[keroro]

are the wheels from remote control cars? they look like remote control car wheels LOL

[hamjudo]

The builder described them as big ol' pimping wheels. I think they're just designed to look like miniature truck tires. Skateboard wheels are subjected to huge forces when a 60 kilo rider lands after a jump. For hobby robots we use RC wheels when weight and traction matter. For really heavy duty service, we use skateboard parts.

[bounty1012]

LOL they do!

[Raydoom]

PLEAASEE TELL ME WERE U GOT THEM WHEELS !!!

[freshmanfred0000]

pretty awesome, is there any way to make the board just as durable, but with thinner layers...how well does carbon fiber work for these projects?

[willdabeast]

i bet it could, but that would be on the expensive end of things.

[Bright Shadow]

carbon fiber should definitely work. they use it in F1 cars, some jet airplanes, etc, etc. so, yeah, it should work.

[yankees9494]

I have no idea about carbon fiber in this proccess, but I do know that carbon fiber can be used to make skateboards(my element fiberlight is a combination of fiberglass, carbon fiber, and wood)

[Toastalicious]

You apply carbon fiber, pretty much the same way as fiberglass... but more expensive.

[mrdepo96]

well not really. They make bikes out of the stuff, and it would be nearly impossible to actually make a board out of it without a giant company backing you. Besides, it wouldn't be able to handle the abuse. Just because they use it in formula one cars doesn't mean it's up to being scraped, bashed, and stood on.

[transparency]

I've personally made 2 boards out of carbon and one with carbon stringers (trying to recreate the Carbon Mummy). From my experience carbon is great in the flex capabilities and is much more resistant to being scraped, bashed, and stood on than any glass board I have made. Like glass, the compression and tensile strengths of carbon are about equal. Carbon is just much stronger in these categories than glass. I have an 'in' on carbon, but if you can afford it, it will make a much stronger/lighter board.

P.S. I will probably post my first instructable on making one of these boards from scratch including veneers.

[psychsurf]

Actually, people do make carbon fiber skateboards at home, the process is very similar to this one. Anyone with a vacuum bagging setup and some time to experiment could make a good carbon layup. Thepavedwave has some examples.

[masterochicken]

I've been looking for wheels like those for years. Where did you get them?