So, have you ever been interested in buying a longboard but couldn't because of the cost? This is a cost effective method to make a longboard of any style you like.

NOTE: I take no responcibility for your workmanship, if your board breaks and you are injured, im sorry but i cant help you.

Step 1: Design the Board

So, the first step is deciding what you want to make, A few important things to keep in mind are: it is hard to bend the wood on multiple planes (give concave and rocker or camber), it is wood so you need to keep enough wood on the shape to keep it from breaking, and be creative, the board is your own so make it how you want.

I suggest creating a scaled sketch of what you want to make before you start doing anything, It'll help if you have riden a few boards previously so you know what you want to make.

Guidelines for flex.
Using 1/8" baltic birch 3plys with formica will give a small flex with 160lbs with a 30" Wheel base. A

Step 2: Obtain Materials

For this, my suggestion is make good friends with a local cabnet maker, and procure your materials for cheap.

1/8 Baltic Birch(should have 3 plys to it), for this build i used 3- 1'X4' sheets
TiteBond III Wood Glue, green bottle, you will need about 8oz for a board
Poly Crylic

A PRESS Look at this vid for instructions on how to make it. (Note: the vid is not of me)

- Optional stuff: Formica, Fiberglass, Carbon Fiber, Paints

- TOOL: I use a jig saw, a belt sander, an orbital sander, a drill press, a putty knife, and whatever else i deem necessary.

Step 3: Glueing & Pressing

So, Youve got your press, wood, glue and other optional stuff.

First, make sure your press is ready, you have the clamps for it ready and everything.

Next, look at the wood, decide what sides you want facing out and in and get that all decided.

Third, spread the glue onto the wood(use a putty knife). You want to either do a thick coat on one piece, or a thin coat on each piece. Repeat for each ply.
(I did three plys of wood and a formica bottom, with thin coats of glue on each face.)

Last, get everything lined up how you want it, put it in the press, and then clamp it down, I use 9 home made bar clamps made out of 2X4 and all thread.

Now you wait, 24 hours or more, this lets the glue set up and for a nice strong board.

Step 4: Planning Your Cuts

So, you have patiently waited the 24 hours needed for the glue to dry.

Now you must take the board out of the press and lay out your cuts onto it. get crazy, the more odd the shape the more attention the board will draw and the more props youll get for being a board builder.

some things to keep in mind, you probably want the board to be somewhere around 9" wide, ive got big feet, so i go 10" wide.

So, sketch out the shape you want onto the board and also put down a center line(this will help later)

Step 5: The Cutting & Shaping

Now you must cut out your board, I suggest using a jigsaw, follow the lines you drew out on the blank about 1/8" outside the lines, that way if there is any splintering it is easier to fix. You then want to take the board to a belt sander and get the edges of the board down to the lines you drew out earlier. If you dont have a belt sander then a wood rasp will work well.

You do want to keep the top edge sharp, it will give you better traction on your board.

Once you get the shape of the board all done, you need to drill out the mounting holes, I suggest printing out this , and lining it up with the center line of the board, and using a drill press to drill out the mounting holes. Also, if you want the board to be a drop through, as i did on this build, you can use this template, or look up any of the many others online.

Step 6: Creative Time!!!!

Ok, so this is the step when you do whatever you want in order to decorate the board, You can paint it, you can draw stuff with sharpies, whatever.

After you are done getting super cool graphics or whatever, you need to seal the board, so what i suggest is using Minwax Polycrylic, it goes on easily and will not change the colors you laid down earlier. I do 4-5 coats