Long Board

Intro: Long Board

I will be teaching you how to make a Long Board Deck!
Along the way I will point out my follies in the creation of this last deck so you may create a work of art that well exceeds mine!
Now there are a few preference points that you will need to decide on as you start your design -
- Deck purpose, is it a sliding deck, bombing deck, or a cruising deck?
  - depending on the purpose of the deck depends on the length and will alter your overall design.
  - sliding would look more like what i am making now, and between 34"-36", bombing 40"-41" and cruising can be short (like a fish board) or long (like a pin tail)
*Now ^ this is all preference to how you ride and you are free to try your own designs and i recommend looking at companies designs and purposes of boards to refine your design.

These are my two finished boards!

STEP 1: On to the Building!

Ok the materials needed - 
- Ply Wood ( We used BC plywood and for the slider we used Red Oak, NOTE: the BC worked better.
- Tight Bond 3 Wood Glue(Its good stof!)
*- Fiberglass Mesh ( We used screen material, it doesn't add enough to be needed, feel free to try different inlay materials and give me feed back on your results!) -* Optional Material!

Tools - 

- Tape Mesure
- Pencil
- Saw 
- Clamps ( I have 12)
- Rasp ( for cleaning up and shaping the board)
- Sand paper ( I used 220)

STEP 2: Continue!

Draw out your design before you start gluing and cutting!

Mesure Twice - Cut Once!!

Your design might change a little as you go, be flexible and fix what problems are thrown at you, and if you get stressed while working STOP AND EAT and come back to it after.

STEP 3: Glue Time

Put glue on both sides of the wood, the wood glue relies on moisturizing the wood and soaking in. Don't be afraid to put to much glue on, the excess will squeeze out.

And use as many clamps as you can! the more pressure the better!

Leave the Board to dry in clamps for 24 hours.

STEP 4: Start the Shaping!

Clean up the sides after the 24 hours, than draw on the shape and cut that sucker out!
This is where cutting and shaving will be a pain so take breaks and eat food!
and after you drill the holes sand the top and bottom so its all clean or you will get spots in your stain.

STEP 5: Stain and Lacker

Make sure you sand both sides clean!
Have a ventilated area for the staining process.
Read your Stains instructions, mine said it needs 8 hours to dry.
One layer was enough for our tastes, so we went onto the clear Polyurethane Lacker, go with the ultra fast dry time, its and extra 2$ and saves about 30 minutes . . . i got impatient.

Once the Lacker has dried give it a nice sanding before a second coat is applied, and i recommend a second coat.

STEP 6: Home Stretch!

Put those trucks on and go for a ride!!!

Comments

[Vagabond20]

So, what's the purpose of the mesh in the board?

[Rubiks bakon eater]

wot if it exploded when you put it in the oven

[Rubiks bakon eater]

it could burn your pencil behind your ear

[rclingan]

How thick was the BC plywood that you used?

[GDADZGSONS]

Yeah I agree.

[bcavaciuti]

do you know what causes the spots? coz that effect could look good if implemented well similar to bleach sprayed jeans and t shirts. dunno if it would be good or not but an interesting thought to explore.

[Izizjawa]

The stain doesn't take to any oily spots on the wood, but thats a really good idea! I could use some oil on the board in a design before the stain!!

[GDADZGSONS]

Cool.

[GDADZGSONS]

Love the logo grip tape and both of the boards!

[Izizjawa]

The logo is from the local board shop "Inferno" where we get our grip tape.

[GDADZGSONS]

Looks very different! you definitely "improved" the design greatly!

[Izizjawa]

Thanks! yah it looked pretty janky the first time.

[Izizjawa]

Ply wood is rated A through C. A is sanded and has no knots or splits, B is unsanded, has knots but all cracks are filled, C is just low grade, unsanded knots, cracks, but its still usable. So BC is a mix between B - grade and C - grade wood. That guy in the red shirt really wants the Prodigy!
I did a bit of work on the Bomber deck, what do you think?

[GDADZGSONS]

What does"BC"mean? Great board design! I love the style. Looks like an arbor prodigy, which I am looking at building:] great instructable!

[Izizjawa]

Oh and i was able to hit roughly 40 mph on a hill using the bomber and it held up perfectly! I wouldn't try that on a carving deck though.
(speed checked by following car, follow traffic laws! and be safe :D )

[audreyobscura]

You did a nice job. Does it feel boaty when you ride it?

[Izizjawa]

The Bomber board is a bit boaty, but that carver isn't at all.

[Izizjawa]

The actual reason I don't recommend the use of the Redwood 5.2mm ply is because it flexes too much! On hard carves we were able to bottom the deck out, but the BC plywood doesn't flex at all, so possibly a mix of the wood would provide something satisfactory but my intention is to test other woods. The one that caches my eye right now is maple, which is used by many of the large companies. We shall see! and what would you guys like to see me do next?

[mikemaker9]

Nice. Does it flex well? Lol "GO EAT" haha

[bootsncatsn]

What's the flex like?