How to Make an Old Skateboard Into a Mini Cruiser (spray Paint Style)

I started with my brothers old skateboard i found in the back of my garage. It hadn't been used for years and was in pretty bad shape. Unfortunately i haven't got any pictures of the board it it's completely original state so this instructable is from the point onwards after I:

Took the rusted trucks, wheels and hardware off
Used an electric planer and A LOT of sandpaper to get all the varnish, paint and ancient grip-tape off. (This can just be done with just sandpaper but it will take a little longer)

I did this board for around £70 ($120), but depending on your choice of materials and techniques you could cut this in half. It's just how i wanted to do my board.

The next steps will explain how to transform old board into a neat little cruiser

ENJOY :)

Step 1: Tools

If you don't have some of these tools then DON'T WORRY, either go out and buy them (it will be a worthwhile investment for future projects), borrow from a friend, or go to your nearest woodworking and/or hardware store and pay for certain steps to be done for you. The hardware store near where i live does small jobs very cheap.

TOOLS AND SUPPLIES:
For reshaping the board:

Band or Jig Saw- A band saw will be quicker and easier if you have access to one (woodworking store for example). A Jigsaw or even a manual saw would work too (if you have the patience and a certain amount of skill)
Planer (Manual or electric)
Sandpaper- Also possibly a wood file (not essential if you cut the wood well)

For redesigning the board:

Wood primerSpray (White)
Paint - I used spray paint for my particular design but acrylic is a good choice for painting
Clear Spray Paint- Only needed if you're using the same spray painting technique for your board. It helps to keep the paint wet
Polyurethane varnish spray- This is to protect the paint and the board from weathering and rain
New Grip Tape

New Parts (If you need them):

Trucks- I used Penny Nickel 4 inch trucks
Wheels- Again i went with penny nickel wheels (came with spacers and bearings)
Bearings- Personal choice but abec 5 came with the wheels
Hardware- such as bolts and nuts

Step 2: Decide on a Shape:

I decided to go with the board shape of a Penny Nickel because the wheelbase of aprox 16 inches was similar to my deck. Any template however can be used and resized to fit a board.

Print off your template full size.

If you can only print off on A4 like me, then follow these steps:

get your template and put it into a word doc and format the text wrap to "tight" so its maneuverable
Crop the template right to the edges of the board template
Resize in the format tab in the "size" section to the height and width of the board you want
Copy and paste the large image twice and basically crop the three template pictures into 3 sections so that you can spread them on 3 pages
Cut out the template. When you put them together when you print them out and cut them out they should fit perfectly together

I made an extra template out of card too

A penny nickels height and width is 27 x 7.5 inches

Step 3: Preperation and Cutting

I don't have a photo of the old board before it was prepared for cutting but the steps are fairly simple to explain.

Preparing The Board:

Get the hardware off and strip the board of its paint and grip-tape. Make sure you sand it down well using a few different grades of sandpaper (if possible)

TIP: When sanding away bumps or blemishes wrap the sandpaper around a small block of some sort with a flat surface. If you sand only with the paper, the bump will not be smoothed out because you will just be sanding the entire surface around the bump too

Draw around your template onto the board making sure the trucks and mounting holes line up. Then go ahead and cut it out! :)

Step 4: Priming

Primer isn't absolutely essential but it helps the paint stick to the wood better and having a white surface makes the colours pop more

Unfortunately I don't have photos of this next step

Wipe your board clean and spray thin even coats of primer on aprox 4 hours apart. I did 3 coats this way and then left it over-night. Several thin coats is always better than one thick one.

Step 5: Painting the Board- Underside

You can do any design in whichever way suites you but this step will be how i did mine.

Deciding On Your Design:

Keep your colour pallet small. I used light blue, dark blue and pink (for highlights) and of course black and white. Come up with a composition that works with the shape, I used a tree to help bring the design together and the owl on the tree to provide a focal point.

It is important to keep in mind that the trucks will cover part of the painting! Base the design around this

Painting:

Do lots of practices until you get the techniques right. I have used this technique before so i did one (on gloss paper) to see if the composition was good and then went ahead and did it. If you mess up you will have to either paint over or sand it down and re-prime it.

TIP: My only tip that took me a long time to learn was that the paint dries very quickly. Use clear paint to keep it wet so that you can scrape bits away for rock highlights when you notice it gets sticky. Also, work in thin layers, keeping the can always moving.

These videos explain specifics much better than i could: Find more on youtube, they are super helpful

Step 6: Painting the Board- Top and Sides

I decided to cut a stencil into the grip tape so i needed some background colour.

I used the same colours as the bottom of the board and painted them in stripes to create some sort of spacy background. I added two shooting stars also.

Finally, don't forget to spray the sides of the board. Try and make it blend with the design

Step 7: Details and Varnish

Details:
For smaller details such as the owl on the tree and my name on the tail, i used acrylic paint and did them by hand.

I also scratched the year on the tail into the paint while it was wet

Varnish:

Sand your design lightly so that the polyurethane varnish has a key to stick to. Do this between layers too.

Like with the primer i did 3 coats. I waited around 8 hours in between coats (you may want to wait longer, the weather was warm so it dried fairly quickly). I then waited 24 hours until touching it anymore just to make sure the varnish had completely dried

Step 8: Grip-Tape

I wanted to cut a silhouette into the grip-tape of an owl to fit with the moon-lit theme and used a picture from the internet as the inspiration for my stencil. I simplified it for the board and cut it out carefully with a craft knife. Then i applied it to the board.

Applying Grip tape:

Fairly straight forward but if you have any problems, this video is how i learned how to do it:

Remember to rough up the edges of your cut out design too, even details. It stops the tape peeling off easily

Step 9: Add Trucks and Wheels

Slap on a pair of trucks and wheels and you're good to go :)

I used Penny Nickel 4 inch trucks and Penny Nickel Wheels as well as some lock in nuts and bolts from my hardware store (saves money rather than going to a skate- shop. Bolts are bolts)

DONE :)

The end result is a board which went from a old, unused skateboard to an awesome personalized and completely unique cruiser

Step 10: RIDE YOUR NEW BOARD :D

This was my first instructable so please post feedback and questions if you have any :)

SIDE NOTE: If any one (preferably from the UK, like me), would like to buy a
"made-over" cruiser like this, i can custom make one for you. Any shape, color, design etc. I would sell them for £100 per board (without trucks and wheels, Penny Nickel trucks and Wheels add around £40). It costs me almost that much to make them but I enjoy it :) Message me if you're interested