What Do You Do With Skateboard Cutoffs?

You make slingshots of course.

Daniel's Finished Skateboard

3 finished skateboards, pre drilled for trucks!

Finished with Danish oil, which I've been using lately for my slingshots!

It took a couple tries but daniel has figured out how to cut the grip tape without having a ragged edge. Watch some YouTube videos before adding your grip tape!

 He's punching his holes through...

and now putting it together for Gilbert. I dropped the ball here, Gil was home this weekend and tested out his new deck... it works great even without pictures!

Below is a link to past progress:

http://www.karenmakesstuff.com/2012/09/three-skateboards-in-progress.html

Three Skateboards in Progress

Daniel and Gilbert talked over the weekend about finishing up these skateboards.

They are both excited (I'm sure guys likes terms like excited) to have 3 boards that look so good after several failed attempts.

The side grains are so tight and perfect! Progress continues.

The post below has past progress and contains posts on the skateboard mold:
http://www.karenmakesstuff.com/2012/09/togetherness.html

Togetherness

Daniel and I miss our son very much but we're keeping his fire burning here until he returns.

The greenhouse was his homeschool project but it's so important now as our fall/winter garden!

In the basement we're continuing his work, Daniel with skateboards and me with slingshots. We work side by side on the bench Daniel just resurfaced for me.

Daniel and Gilbert had some trouble with the skateboard deck glue up but Daniel has that nailed now. Links to their previous deck making below:

http://www.karenmakesstuff.com/2011/09/making-skateboard-mold.html

http://www.karenmakesstuff.com/2011/12/skateboard-mold-progress.html

They needed padding on either side of the veneers when it was in the mold. $5 yoga mats from the Five and Below did a great job. Above is a template Daniel made from an old treadmill belt. I found him the template dimensions online at: BoardPusher

Here's my jack pot, our neighbor across the street had some bushes and trees cut down. I visited over there with my garden loppers!

Daniel's ready to cut boards out, he has three waiting. I'll show you his progress later.

My Work is Done

Seems that while I was out today Gil took some nice shots of the greenhouse. You realize it's February, right?

On the bottom left we still have swiss chard I've been picking from, above that spinach, above that turnips. In the middle are the carrots that aren't in a rush to do anything and on the right are oak leaf and romaine lettuces.

He's picked some carrots, we found out that the tops are good to eat too.

I liked this shot of him as a shadow taking a picture of his skateboard. Not weird under the circumstances, he turned a regular deck into a long board. You'd have to know about skateboards.

Couple More Customs

This kitty is for a little girl.

The shamrock began this way...

but was requested to be this way.

Bad news, Gil's first prototype skateboard broke in half, he half expected it to happen. It was made of only 5 layers of cheap plywood. All in a days testing, we needed to know if the shaping was correct before we order good veneer. Stay tuned!

Good idea about the earring thingies, thanks!

Where Are We At On The Skateboard Mold?

We have a working proto type, YIPEE!

It has been lightly tested in the basement. (due to ice outside)

It even looks like a real skateboard.

I'll take you backwards through the process.

This is the board cut out and spray painted on the back.

I sure hope he didn't over spray on my porch!

He actually made 2 proto types, this is the first that he's cutting out now. This one turned out better than the second. (too much fixing we believe)

They've had problems with the mold. The top and bottom need to fit perfectly together or you'll get gaps and puckers in the board.

This is a glue up, normally it's 7 layers of veneer.

They put freezer paper on the mold first so the veneer doesn't stick.

They acquired thin packing plywood for their proto type. Because of it's thickness they only needed 5 layers.

And here's where we've all labored, especially my husband. He has a constant headache now from the Bondo wood filler. I told you the pieces have to fit, well if you try to fix one side you can ruin another. This is the part of the project that has taken the most time. We're hoping that we have gotten it right now. We just need to get more glue and veneer. Stay tuned!

Cardboard Test Run

 These boys sure are dragging their feet on this skateboard mold.

 They've layered several pieces of cardboard with glue in between...

to make sure they have the contours right.

They're almost ready for the veneers!

More Skateboard Mold Progress

Today was the day to put the pieces of the mold together.

Wood glue,  screws...

and a bit of sanding.

Looks pretty good...

but there are a couple of gouges.

Bondo wood filler...

my whole house stinks.