60's inspired Skateboard
​
Again, this one was mostly built with off cuts from the Alaia. I always liked the 60's style skateborad and thought I'd give a go at making a checker pattern with wood along with playing with epoxy.
​
I'm pretty happy with the result, I think it looks really nice and it skates well also (according to son anyway). I was surprised how sturdy it was, I tried it myself and it holds really well (I'm close to 90Kg). Of course, it is so small, it is a weird riding feel but it does the job.
​
The video below highlights the main building steps along with the pics from the test ride but if you're interested in the issues I faced (the whole point of this website) I detailed them at the bottom of this page.
​
​
From the video, I suppose it looks like smooth sailing but I had a few challenges on this one:
​
-
Working with epoxy: I will never say it enough, it is hard. Since the sides are thicker than the middle part (by design), I aimed at filling the gap with clear epoxy in order to highlight the checker pattern and make it stonger. I worked but pouring epoxy is a tough thing. From previous experiences, I knew the best way to go was to insure the board was levelled before the pour. So I spent a bit of time with my bubble level trying to set the board horizontally in all directions if that makes sense. Yet, it probably wasn't perfect as it was higher in some parts and lower in others... Also, how much epoxy to prepare ? I did a volume calculation to find out and got it all wrong so I had to make a few successive batches, not ideal. In the end with some sanding, it came back good enough.
​
-
Making the checker pattern: since I never done it before, I trialed and errored... the most important thing I found was to insure all pieces you start with are identical. I used the table saw for that, the sled came in very handy as it allows precision repetitive cuts.after that, it is a patience game, letting the glue to set and properly clamp as best possible.
​
It wasn't all that tricky, as ling as your patient it works. One thing I was quite happy with was to appose my logo on the wheels using aceton transfer. It actually worked fairly well and lifts the whole design and look.