PS:One Longboard
The subject of skateboards came up about 2 weeks ago at meeting of local makers. One of the PS:One Hackerspace guys confessed he wanted to buy a longboard for getting around town. Longboards are more about basic transportation and carving smooth turns than doing tricks. The large size also encourages design and graphical creativity. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get the creative juices flowing. It was a fun project that cost less than $50 to complete.
Once I get these ideas in my head I am totally obsessed with them. The only way to clear my brain is to actually build the thing whether I need it or not. I finally got some time between 2.x Lasers and ORD Bots orders on the CNC router last Sunday night.
Design:
- 3/4″ baltic birch deck.
- Logo inlay on top near the front in a contrasting wood type.
- The inly would be 1/4″ thick so minor dings and chips would not wreck the inlay.
- Pockets cuts on the back to look cool, reduce the weight and give the board a little flex.
- Miter the edges of the pockets for a cool look, make it more comfortable to carry and make it less prone to chipping.
- Round the perimeter edges.
- I really like the drop style truck mounting, but I would stick with a conventional bottom mount to start with.
Fabrication Process.
- Cut the inlay piece out of 1/4″ thick oak.
- Mount the Baltic birch on the router and check for Z flatness in the inlay area. I mounted it on a sacrificial particle board. This board was clamped by itself, so unclamping the plywood would not affect the position of the sacrificial board.
- Cut the pocket for the inlay slightly under sized. I then continued to profile the edges larger until it fit tightly.
- Glued the inlay in place.
- Cut the bolt holes for the trucks.
- Cut the deck outline. I purposely cut extra deep into my sacrificial base so that I would have a clear outline of the board. This would allow me to flip it squarely to do the back side.
- Cut the back pockets 1/4″ deep.
- At the last minute I decided to add the the PS:One logo to the back as a 1/8″ deep pocket. It turned out to be my favorite detail.
- Used a 1/2″ 90 Deg V bit to miter the edges of the pockets. I did a profile pass on the pocket lines set inside the line 0.02″ to make sure the tip was always inside the edge for a clean cut. The depth was set to leave 1/16″ of the original pocket wall.
- Unclamp the deck.
- I used a 3/8″ 1/4 round bit with guide bearing on the router table to round the edges.
- Sanded.
- Stained using Minwax Golden Oak stain. It is a light colored stain that varies quite a bit with the wood type.
- Sealed. Minwax Satin Poly Urethane.
Time:
- Design, research, ordering parts…about 1 hour.
- Total time on the router…about 1 hour.
- Sanding and Finishing…about 1.5 hours.
Cost:
- $10 worth of baltic birch
- $5 1/4″ x 8″ oak for inlay
- $35 trucks and wheels.
- Already had all bits, stain and varnish
TO DO:
- I want to laser cut a bunch of little PS:One snowflakes out of grip tape and sprinkle them on the deck.
Too awesome (as usual), Bart. That sounds like it could be a fun “design your own longboard” workshop at PS: One.
Thanks…At first I was afraid to ride it. Not because I might crack my head open, because I might damage the board.
It actually rides really well and the big wheels don’t catch very often.
Wow. Looks really nice. The stain makes it look a bit classier than other long boards I’ve seen. PS:One logo is a nice touch.
Sweet longboard Bart! Great job
Mark and Trish
Right on…that’s amazing. I’ve never seen a longboard with detailing carved into the wood like that. Did you end up making snowflakes from grip tape?