Longboard for little girl

[digitalsmokehead]

I've just completed my first longboard for my bro's little girls 5th birthday present. I'm new to woodworking but very keen to learn more to improve my board building.

As budget was a problem i decided i couldn't afford to make a press in which to sandwich thin plies so my only option was to use a piece of 11ply baltic birch and shape it. This isn't popular with skaters as it doesn't have the concave which helps hold your feet to the board so I decided to sand some concave in myself.

After cutting out the outline shape I routed out the middle at its deepest then worked my way out to the sides getting shallower each cut. Then i sanded and shaped the rest by hand. The graphics were vinyl cut and sealed in with varnish.

For my first project i'm totally stoked with it.

 

[digitalsmokehead]

I'll post pics up when i'm allowed to.

 

[Chems]

I've just completed my first longboard for my bro's little girls 5th birthday present. I'm new to woodworking but very keen to learn more to improve my board building.

As budget was a problem i decided i couldn't afford to make a press in which to sandwich thin plies so my only option was to use a piece of 11ply baltic birch and shape it. This isn't popular with skaters as it doesn't have the concave which helps hold your feet to the board so I decided to sand some concave in myself.

After cutting out the outline shape I routed out the middle at its deepest then worked my way out to the sides getting shallower each cut. Then i sanded and shaped the rest by hand. The graphics were vinyl cut and sealed in with varnish.

For my first project i'm totally stoked with it.

You'll be able to post pics when you have 3 posts. That looks excellent! I don't believe its your first project, no way.

 

[digitalsmokehead]

This is the first longboard i've built. Not my first project but most things i've made so far have been simple screwing like veg beds in my garden and some railway sleeper walls.

I'm still very green when it comes to wood working and i own very few tools.

thanks though.

 

[seanybaby]

Excellent first project :d

Check this,i love the bit where they overtake the car!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYmC8e4QGv8

PS. How do you embed a youtube link? I tried for 10mins

 

[ro]

Wow, that looks fantastic.

She should be chuffed to get that!

 

[digitalsmokehead]

Cheers for the comments. She's over the moon with it and rode it to school this morning.

 

[Max Power]

What a great uncle. She will treasure that and remember it in years to come 8)

 

[digitalsmokehead]

There are a few things i'd like to improve on for my next board.

I'd like to improve my varnish finish. Even with sanding between coats I still didn't get it as flat as i'd have liked. I used Johnsons water based clear gloss. The cutouts in the deck where the trucks went through could be much neater but i'll need to either get much better in tight spaces with the jigsaw or find a new method of cutting. I could also improve the outlines edge with a router if i had the right bit but i was happier doing it by hand for now as i was worried about taking too much off.

Any suggestions about varnish and application would be great help.

 

[Bkn]

This piqued my interest so I watched a few youtube vids and it seems it's best to construct the board using multiple laminates and bending and setting them on a form to get the curvature instead of hollowing flat boards.

Check out youtube - some good vids on longboard construction.

 

[digitalsmokehead]

This piqued my interest so I watched a few youtube vids and it seems it's best to construct the board using multiple laminates and bending and setting them on a form to get the curvature instead of hollowing flat boards.

Check out youtube - some good vids on longboard construction.

As i pointed out in my first post, I had very little money to put into this ! Baltic birch in thin plies or veneers isn't cheap... then there's the cost of making the press for a one off tiny board. I had a piece of baltic sat there and decided to use it. I knew it wouldn't be as good as a pressed deck but i had little choice.

I have plans to make said decks in an adult size when i have some spare cash. I'll post up one day.

I have found quite a lot of advice from longboard building forums but thought you fellas would have better advice on getting a better finish.