Longboards made in a garage with friends

Longboards from scratch

(Written on 01/05/2023, but dated earlier to fit the chronological order of projects)

My friend had an idea to make longboards in his garage. I joined him in this project since I liked making things. Neither of us knew how to ride a longboard, but we had the internet and we had the woodworking tools.

Since making these though, I've become an avid longboarder, and it's been a primary form of travel for me around university and in general.

We made about 5 different longboards, and sold a few to some other friends.

The Process

The gist of building a longboard from scratch goes something like this:

1. Acquire wood
   • We used 1/8 inch baltic birch plywood
2. Cut wood into longboard-sized sheets
3. Glue sheets together, alternating the wood grain (for strength)
4. Dry the glue and wood sheet stack while applying pressure to it
   • This gives the longboard deck its "bend"
   • You will want to make a contraption to hold the sheets in the right shape while it dries--a longboard press (see above)
5. Once dry, cut and shape the pressed wood into a longboard looking shape
6. Sand all the surfaces smooth
7. Paint the back of the deck as you see fit and dry
8. Drill the holes for the trucks/wheels
9. Apply 3-4 coats of polyurethane to the whole board and dry
   • This will ensure durability and waterproofing
10. Apply the grip tape to the top of the board
11. Mount the trucks
12. You are done!

Closing thoughts

• More details can be found in our Google Docs engineering journal.
• This is one of my favorite projects, mostly because I'm still using the longboard!
• The total material cost for 1 longboard was about $60.00
  • The majority of the cost were the trucks/wheels -- $35!
• 3 years later, the board is still in pretty good condition.
  • I swapped out the wheels for those wavy shark wheels--they're not that different from normal wheels.
  • Picture below.