longboard wood
Submitted by The_poopsmith on Tue, 06/01/2009 - 1:44pm.
Tagged: Anything skateboarding!
ive been trying to build myself a deck over the past week or so using poplar core ply and have been having durability issues, largley i believe caused by the wrong sort of wood. they either turn out too fragile, or waaay too thick with no flex whatsoever. if anyone knows what kind of wood to use and where i can get it, preferably in Hamilton i would welcome any suggestions
gaboon or maranti
check out plyman.co.nz (i think) but most timber and ply yards have it.
chr
jestah
Agree
Pop along to ITM on Te Rapa straight. They usually have supplies of both. Another one to try is Fijian Kauri but sometimes the quality is a bit low.
Meranti and Gaboon both come in marine grades which usually means the quality is quite good.
Billy
www.bombardierlongboards.co.nz
What Thickness?
What Thickness do you think i should make the board for around the 40" wheelbase mark? also rang ITM and they also suggested mahogany. has anyone tried that yet? thanks for all the help!
Haven't used mahogany...
Be a bit careful though as it might just be a veneer on top of some other crappy ply.
What you use depends on a couple of things, how much you weigh and how much flex you hope to get out of the board. Meranti and Gaboon both come in 4mm and 6mm sheets. For a 40" board I'd probably go for two 4mm plys and 6mm ply in the middle. If you weigh less than me (90kg) you might get away with a 4mm in the middle instead of the 6.
Cheers
www.bombardierlongboards.co.nz
I'm also thinking of making
I'm also thinking of making myself a board sometime. What glue would you recommend for sticking them all together? Gorilla glue failed in a previous experiment.
When I mde a board I used
When I mde a board I used the toothless method and 4 3mm, 3ply sheets of baltic birch, was fine, rode it for a year or so with no issues. The first one I made was with two 6mm sheets, turned out crap. For glue, I just took a load from my old school as I knew the tech teacher, worked out fine. I read a couple of days ago on the lush forum that the make of glue doesn't really matter, as its all much of a muchness. The one I used was a generic one anyways, and worked fine.
Gorilla Glue is fine
Its messy and needs careful organisation but its also relatively cheap and accessable. I've used it a lot and haven't had a failure I didn't deserve. Those failures were caused by poor pressing or being too slow to get the plys together. Get everything organised first and then start spreading the glue. According to the instructions you then have 30 minutes to get the ply pressed. I'd suggest that 30 minutes was fine if the weather is cooler but when its warm you might have 20 minutes. Oh and put some paper under where you're working. The glue will ooze out the sides and find its way onto the floor and then your wife/mother/father/husband will get angry.
Leave it for 24 hours and then cut it out. If you can see an obvious glue line then the board will probably eventually delaminate. Once you start riding it the flexing will 'tear' the glue. I'd suggest you get some really cheap ply first and do a trial.
But stick with it (excuse the appalling pun). And I agree with Rob you're better to go with 3 thinner plys then 2 thicker ones.
Cheers
www.bombardierlongboards.co.nz
Mahogany
Yeah the mahogany they offered is marine grade 4.5 mm and its about $60 a sheet so i might give that a try. Thanks for the help!
also the boards i have made so far have been made with gorilla glue and haven't had any issues with the glue so far on the boards which i made a bit thicker.
Cheers