Finally!!! I figured out a way to do what i have had in my head for some time now. Its not perfect, but it works and does the job that I want it to.

So, I have been wanting to make a skateboard that can fold up/break down and be stored in a backpack. I'm a college student and had the intention of being able to skate to class and then throw my skateboard in my backpack instead of having to carry it everywhere (turns out my farthest class was only a 5 min walk anyways but whatever). And its nice for just skating to get food somewhere or, my new intention, skating to work and then just throwing it in my backpack.

Step 1: Materials Needed

For this instructable you will need to gather some materials. You will need:
-skateboard trucks, wheels, bearings
-an aluminum skateboard deck (got mine off ebay for about $40 shipped)
-2 BOA dials taken off some snowboard boots, wakeboard boots, ect. (sorry for the bad pictures of them, i've only tried it with the oval shaped BOA dials, but i'm pretty sure the circle ones will work too)
-some tools like a drill, saw that cuts through metal, gorilla glue type stuff, screws, skateboard hardware, BOA laces, metal rods about 1/4" thick

Step 2: First Steps

Ok so there are a few things you need to do. Each truck needs to have two cuts made into them on the side opposite of the kingpin. I made 4 cuts on my trucks while i was trying some other ways to attach them, so i guess do as i say not as i do.

Also, you need to cut the board into 3 pieces. I made straight cuts right inbetween the 4 holes on the deck. I'm not great at explaining everything, so my pictures will speak louder than my words.

Step 3: Making the Board One Piece Again

ok so this is the part that i could not figure out for the longest time. The reason i chose the aluminum board was because it is hollow in the middle allowing me to add stuff in it. So, i cut up some about 1/4" rods and stuck them into the middle holes of the board. Some of the rods would go in about 4 inches deep and some 1/2 an inch, so that is why they aren't all straight and pretty. I used something like gorilla glue to hold them securely in place. I glued about 15 rods onto both the nose and the tail of the board. While they were drying, i slid them into the board so that they would be in the perfect position once they hardened. the pictures of the rods are on the next step, my bad.

Step 4: Attaching the Trucks to the Board

this is where the BOA lacing system comes into play. the pictures pretty much explain it. I actually did glue in 4 pieces of skateboard hardware on the board. This was so that when you place the trucks on the board, you just stick the trucks in 2 of the screws and then tighten it down with the reel. It makes it so the trucks will stay aligned and not move around. Again the picture will show it best.

Step 5: Hardware on the Board

so i wanted the board to look as much like a normal board as possible. That is in part why i glued the skateboard hardware in the board. I also added hardware where the lacing system runs. Just check out the pictures to see what i mean.

Step 6: Put It All Together and Ride

So after all these steps, and after you lace the boa lacing correclty, you just need to slide the nose and tail into the middle section, put the trucks on, tighten them down and make sure that the lacing goes into the holes through the slits that you cut. This project has taken me a long time and it still is not perfect. The nose and tail are not completely solid and strong when connected to the board, there is a bit of bending. But it is still definatley skate-able. I've really only tested the board for about 30min. Here are my list of pros and cons:

Pros:
-Folds up
-compact
-sweet

Cons:
-Heavier due to the metal rods
-Aluminum decks are kind of ghetto, have ridges in the top as you can tell from the pictures
-not practical for doing lots of tricks on

So just to let you know, i'm weight about 145. I did a bunch of ollies, 180's, kickflips and everything seemed to be pretty fine. I did however break a lace after doing a 180, but it was a lace off an old snowboard boot, so i dunno. It does look like there is a lot of tension on the laces, so we'll see if it holds up. I would love any input on how to make this board better, stronger, lighter, anything at all! thanks!