How to make a Longboard (Revised and updated)

Step 7 Go ride!

Your done building your longboard! Set it up with trucks and wheels and go ride!
Show it off to all your friends!  Remember to skate safe, and wear all your safety gear!

If you have any questions or need help send me a message or leave a comment!
Here is a video of me going pretty fast on my homemade board!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8BbuS8JahQ

 

Related Links:
Silverfishlongboarding
Toothless longboards

This site sells vacuum presses that are very simple and affordable:
Roarockit Longboards

The pictures below are of a few of the longboards i have made.

Comments

[drummerkid678]

How may plys of birch should I use if I was going to build a 28 inch dropthrough and I wanted it to be pretty flexy? Thanks

[samtheman268]

Where about are you from? If your in the UK most timber companies sell birch plywood at various thickness.

[mir0k]

Do you have any advice of proper adjusting trucks when you don't have a center line anymore? Thanks.

[matthewkhoury75]

Ok, I am new to longboarding and am thinking of making one this summer. First off, I was thinking about making a foam press like this one http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Longboard-Skateboard/step3/Glueing-Pressing/ Do you think this will be ok?
Next, I really have no clue what the demensions should be. I guess it will be 4 feet long, but how wide? I am probably going to make a design like the second picture on this page (Go Ride!). Lastly, I also have no clue what types of wheels or trucks to get. I am new and dont know which are good and bad, ect.

[awatkins4]

u shouldnt make a board longer than 45 inches

[tsabino]

You best be trolling. A friend of mine has an 84 inch board and it's brilliant...

[pyoung4]

if your like 5 years old.... my board is 54 inches long. why should it be so short? answer: it shouldn't. Long longboards are easier to control downhill. short boards are more for boardwalk cruising where you have to dodge people a lot.

[unbentcrayfish]

I've seen 1.5 meter longboards. (60in) you can make them as long as you want. Just make sure they are stiff enough.

[LuminousObject]

You shouldn't give advice unless you know what you're talking about. What is your reason for not making a board longer than 45"?

[adambauman]

i have a couple suggestions on hardware, the three most common trucks i think are bears(my fave), paris, and randalls. you can do your own research for what truck is best for you.

as far as wheels go, hawgs, abec11, orangatang, seismic, sector nine, etc. lots of wheels to choose from. wheels have a couple main differences. durometer(durometer is the hardness of the wheel),the higher the number the better for sliding. lower, the grippier. lots more to talk about.

bearings, i don't know much about.

[welliott2]

hey question what do you personally do the make the indentation where the wheels are.

[derbr07]

i made one like your first one the ceviche looking one but your boards take alot after loadeds nice

[redtraceur]

Hey can you please reply wich kind of wood is the best. is 7ply good for this or any other idea??

[TeacherOfTheWays]

 Baltic birch wood or maple has worked the best for me.

[redtraceur]

kk thnks

[dcpriest]

can u use skateboard trucks?

[TeacherOfTheWays]

Sure

[ezekiel37]

how could i mod this press to get some camber???

[TeacherOfTheWays]

You can make the middle section raised higher than the lower section, if you do so when you press your board it should have camber.

[Ck3Mi]

You're talking about baltic birch and maple...I have a problem, I'm french and I can't find a proper translation of ''baltic birch''... I'd like to know if it would be good to make a board only in 1/8 maple... like 4 plys..??

[TeacherOfTheWays]

 Yeah that would be just fine.

[dirtbikeman102]

 hey i am so glad i read this. this helped me out so much....one question tho. I am trying to make a board similar to the dervish. What wood should i use and how much? also like you showed in the press section. Does the bolt press only do camber and not concave? (or the other way around) but what would be the best for that type of board(carving/speed) one last thing should i put fiberglass on and does it matter what side? 

Thanks so much for the help!

[TeacherOfTheWays]

 For the Dervish i would use 4 plies of 1/8th baltic Birch. The bolt press will do concave. I would press 2 pieces of 1/8th at a time and then do the other two pieces. Concave is probably best for all around stuff, camber is not that necessary. IF you do want to fiberglass it, that will strengthen the board as well as give it more pop. I would fiberglass the very bottom.

[crazyreaper95]

 do u no where to find fiberglass, like in a store or on a website??

[TeacherOfTheWays]

 I got my fiberglass from lowes or home depot, but it was not the best kind of fiberglass. You can get much nicer stuff online.

[boardkid1789]

hey if i'm going for a flexy but strong mini board about 30" in length 10" wide then i'm wanting to do a drop through design but might not . I'm gonna use 1/8th " baltic birch ... should i use 3 plies or 4 ... and should i fiberglass the bottom?

[Fat Flash]

what wood would you recomend for a larger teen such as 215 pounds

[TeacherOfTheWays]

Probably 2 pieces of 1/4th inch baltic birch and maybe an extra 1/8th on bottom with fiberglass if you have it.

[iamspy]

Are they supposed to have a concave? I know some have camber and stuff like that but do they have a concave"

[TeacherOfTheWays]

Yes concave helps the structural integrity of the board ALOT. Almost all boards have it.

[darkpiggy12]

can u use skateboard trucks and wheels?

[huntjulien]

no you cant use skateboard trucks and wheels... u wanna know why, cuz i will slap u silly if you do. were making longboards here not skate boards.

[TeacherOfTheWays]

you can. but they will not preform nearly as well as longboard trucks and wheels.

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

im just testing my homade w/ old skate trucks ill get propper trucks for longboards later...................

[orianagt]

can I use mahogany?

[matkinson23]

Great job man i've been doing a lot of research and this helped a ton. if i was to build a speedboard with a fair amount of camber, should i still use 2 1/4 inches of baltic birch? i want to build a drop thru at some point and i dont want to kick myself for it being too flexy

[TeacherOfTheWays]

If you are making a drop through i would reccomend using 4 1/8 pieces of baltic birch because that way it will be a tad bit stiffer. If you also fiberglassed the bottom that would help aswell.

[matkinson23]

oh alright bro i appreciate it

[guy90]

Looks sick ; ) Deck making use to be so easy at my college, we'd draw a template on paper, and then we'd photo copy it onto acetate (clear plastic), and then using a projector, we'd project the design BIG onto a wall to draw from.- It was great, because we could draw the designs small, and to proportion first. Now I've left college, the quickest way for me is to print out the shapes onto stencil paper, and then transfer the design to the maple/birch.

[fathergoose]

how do u design it so that the baseploate of the trucks are in the board, like the one shown above?