Rebuilding? an old banana board

LFADAM · Posted: Nov 24, 2005 4:13 pm Post subject: Rebuilding? an old banana board

So a few years ago my neighbor just gave me this rad old banana board. I didnt use it too much until I got inspired by "Lords of Dogtown" Ive been using it alot lately but the deck cracked. (Its too small anyways) The trucks and wheels are great so I want to build my own deck. Ive sketched it out and stuff...Itll be something like 2.5 feet long and 9 inches wide...what kind of wood should I use thatll be strong enough for a deck?

Jester · Posted: Nov 24, 2005 11:00 pm Post subject:

Ummm, you know that if you just go buy wood at a hardware store you're probably not gonna get a good skateboard outta that, right? Skate decks consist of multiple layers of wood pressed flat. A single layer is gonna break/wear out pretty fast.

wake_quake · Posted: Nov 25, 2005 12:11 am Post subject:

i made a skate deck in manual arts at school... it lasted for one 180 Sad

vette74 · Posted: Nov 25, 2005 7:06 am Post subject:

Call around to a few lumber yards and ask if they have any "hardwood plywood" it is going to cost you though they probably only sell it in 4'x8' sheets.

LFADAM · Posted: Nov 25, 2005 7:45 am Post subject:

Jester, yea I know...thats why I thought it was weird that the original deck was one piece of wood. So your saying I should use hard plywood?

LFADAM · Posted: Dec 09, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject:

Well I got ambitious a few days ago and just rebuilt the current deck. I got a blade screwdriver out and began to take the old orange paint off like I did with my wakeskate when I realized I had an electric sander. Never used it before, picked it up and within 3 minutes it was completely paintless and the edges were silky smooth. Looked great. So I go out and buy some grip tape at the local skate/snow shop for 5 bucks. Ive read up on re gripping wakeskates so I had an idea of what I was doing. I layed it out and pressed it to the deck. I know your supposed to cut it with a razor blade and I tried to and it was NOT working, it was just making white marks on it so I got a little worried but I got a box cutter out (yea basically the same thing) and it sliced through it like a hot knife through butter. I realize now that I shoulda cut the shape before I attached it. (Some of my razor blade cutting lines were not perfectly straight, oh well, first time around) The grip tape is an awesome addition! I test drove it a little yesterday and today and I love it. I still have that huge chip on the kicktail so I didnt grip it but besides looking bad it gives your foot a little grip. (its a clean but jagged chip)

So overall, Im satisfied. For taking a total of less than 1 hour and 5 dollars, I may end up regripping it with some nicer cooler designs soon. If anyone wants, Ill get some pics on here.

Ctipping · Posted: Dec 27, 2005 10:44 pm Post subject:

yes please

pooser · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 4738

LFADAM, gripping is a fine art but its really easy. dont cut the shape out before hand. you need a file, some type of razor(box cutter will work fine just needs to be sharp), and a sheet of grip. Take off the grip and lay it on. ive seen many different ways off doing it, just be careful not to get air bubbles. now heres the magic. use the file to trace the shape of your deck on the grip. just run it around the edge a couple times and youll get a nice light grey line. now take your razor and try and follow the line as close to the deck ass possible. itll be messy at first but you get better.