# Pressing Skateboards



## shitbum (Sep 10, 2010)

Well, 2 years ago I got sick and fucking tired of spending 20 bucks on a ebay deck that would break in a week, or spending 65 at the "local surf and skate shop" and having it last a little more than a month. So I started looking up what it took to make my own decks. 

And I guess I should inform you of my work situation, I've been working for my pops forever, in a tiny custom cabinet/furniture shop, just me and him, it's no big factory. So needles to say I know how to work with my hands and all, and how to work every damn tool and machine in there.

I clicked around online and quickly found what was going to be my bible for the next year ( DIYskate.com ) and memorized it. 

essentially, you need: 
Hard Maple Veneer - 1/17" thin pieces of wood from the greatlakes region, it makes for the best deck, really tough shit.
Glue - I just used titebond 3 for the first few decks, then went with Multibond-SK8 ( made for skate deck production)
and a press - basically, you've got a bottom mold and a top mold, and you sandwich the veneer in between them with tons and tons of pressure.

The press and molds were the hardest things to make, considering it had to hold up to ATLEAST 20 tons of pressure.
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This was all the original shit I made, and it worked great aha. The press was mortise and tenon so it wouldn't bust apart at the joints (quick google search will explain this). And the molds alone took 2 weeks to make, a lot of sanding and fine tuning, because they have to fit together as prefect as you can get them, so you don't got no air or glue bubbles. They were just 2x8's cut down then slowly, slowly worked to where I needed them.

after googling for way too long, I found a Cali based company that would sell me the veneer, for a decent price, and once that happened it was on! I ordered that shit, and within 2 weeks it was there at my shop, and I was ready to press boards.
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Using a paint roller, I rolled on the glue to both sides of the veneer threw it in my press, and used 2 car jacks, and a 10 ton bottle jack and cranked down on it. let it sit for a day, and came back and got it out and this is what I had.
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it was a little fucked up, but whatever, first one, I had too much glue in it, and had some bubbles. worked out the kinks, and badabing, I was spraying boards out, with finish.
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Now the only thing left to do was to try them out, and see how durable they were.
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7/3/09 was when I put trucks on this board, and started skating and beating the shit out of it.
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< like this FS disaster. 

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I'm still riding this board today. 

I managed to sell enough of them to pay for my investment, but I'm bummed I couldn't keep it going, it just sorta fizzed out when all the summer came and all the skaters turned into surfers.

I have upgraded a lot of shit, I've got concrete molds made from hydrolic cement and I'm making a steel press. The glue I used dries in 2 hours if you use the correct tonnage, there's an equation for it somewhere, I don't feel like finding it, but it's something like 28 tons. Hence the steel press.

Anybody interested in being involved or maybe want a board? I'm most likely going to start this up again sometime soon here, being as all the surfers around here are going to turn back into skaters for winter.


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## 614 crust (Sep 10, 2010)

Nice shit.


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## makan kotoran (Sep 27, 2010)

Fucking oath I'm up for a board, what would your pricing be like for an 8' And could ya post internationaly


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## veggieguy12 (Sep 30, 2010)

Your dedication to doing this and energy/financial investment are impressive, as is the craftsmanship of the final product.
Kudos.
What did you sell those initial boards for?


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## shitbum (Nov 18, 2010)

I was selling boards for 30 bucks, regardless of size. I'm sure the international thing wouldn't be to hard, decks are light enough. I have to find a new veneer supplier, the company I was getting it from no longer has a website, and their number's disconnected. fucking sucks, he was the BEST price anywhere I could find. I'll let ya'll know if I can find a good one.


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## Jason (Sep 30, 2011)

Hi there my name is Jason and I run Dub Press Distribution. We offer Street and Longboard Veneer to independent builders like yourself. We are based outside of Chicago, Illinois in a city named Rockford. I can do small or large bulk orders. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected], or check out our website.

http://www.dubpressdistribution.com/

Thanks and have a great weekend!


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