Making Skateboards

If you’re really into skating you can make your own skateboard by ordering decks, wheels, trucks and barrels from different manufacturers and putting everything together at home. Making a skateboard in this way allows you some flexibility in the design of your board, giving you the characteristics you want for the type of skating that you like.

Before you try to make a skateboard, though, make sure that you know what it is you’re looking for and that you’re knowledgeable about the different features and characteristics of skateboard parts. For example, ask the question “Does resin epoxy construction make a skateboard lighter” to decide if you want to spend the extra money on a resin epoxy deck.

Many skaters already have a board and aren’t happy with one or two of its characteristics; they don’t want to get rid of the board, but want to know how to improve it. If they want speed that their skateboard isn’t giving them, they’re interested in knowing how to make a skateboard fast; if they want to be able to do certain tricks, they’ll try to find out how to make their skateboard flip better. In essence, besides building a skateboard from individual manufactured parts, skaters often need to know how to make a skateboard better and therefore what to add or substitute once their skateboard has been built.

Some skaters even go beyond making skateboards from manufactured parts. Either just for fun or to experiment with new skating experiences, many dedicated skateboarders actually make a skateboard without purchasing a deck from a manufacturer; they only purchase the wheels and the hardware. These skaters go so far as to make their skateboard decks themselves. There are a variety of places on the Internet where you can find instructions on how to make your own skateboard deck. Actually, there may be a variety of ways of constructing a skateboard deck, that all differ slightly from the professional method.

Most sites that teach you how to make a skateboard deck require you to purchase a large piece of plywood, enough to cut 6 or 7 sheets. You’ll also need a sheet of Canadian maple for the top of the board, wide and tall scrap wood for a skateboard mold, a bandsaw (or something similar), wood glue, sand paper, a drill, something to counter sink 8 bolt holes, a primer and varnish. If you’d like to learn how to make a skateboard deck, but don’t have the necessary raw materials, like Canadian maple, then you may find a skateboard making kit useful. You’ll get Canadian maple wood veneers, a system to press your skateboard deck and instructions on how to make skateboards.

In short, the best place to find answers to the question, “How do you make a skateboard” is online; there’s a variety of solutions. While you’re at it, you’ll also be able to find out how to make a fingerboard skateboard and how to make a longboard skateboard as well.