Finishing the surfaces of the boards with sand and coating.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Day 3 - finish board surfaces
Finishing the surfaces of the boards with sand and coating.
Kellen
The board I picked was bamboo, I was planning on doing oak but changed my mind because I wanted a more bendable board. Yesterday we worked on layering our boards with a layer of clear coat. After that we sanded all the excess coat. We are still waiting for the trucks to be put on the board. The bolts we had didn't fit the trucks so we had to get new bolts ordered. Today we are going to apply either grip tape or sand on the top of the board. Yesterday I also started riding some pre-made boards. I quickly realized that it is different then skateboarding a lot more carving and speed is used. I have been skateboarding for 5 years on and off but for longboarding time for day 2 of riding. The style of skateboarding started as longboarding it seems. Not just the design but the way people used to ride back in the 1970s is a lot more similar to the way people ride skateboards now. Now skateboarding seems like it is all about tricks. In the 1970s it was all about the feel of the experience. For example a very popular way of riding in the 70s was going down hills. With longboarding going down steep hills is the classic picture I think of. Another way skateboarding has stayed the same is with the authorities. Skateboarders have also been stereotyped as rebellious people who enjoy destructing public property. The chance that a person will damage property with a bike doing tricks is just as likely as someone with a skateboard.
Charlie
I'm not good at longboarding. I've done it a few times but it didn't go so well. So when I saw this class was an option for March Intensive I thought it would be a good oppurtunity to get better. When I signed up I didn't realize that we would be constructing a longboard but constructing the longboard was just as fun as riding the longboard. I've taken a woodworking class before but this week I've learned a lot about all the tools in the shop and how to use each one effectively. I came in with no idea of what my board would look like but I guess it now looks like the batman symbol. It's pretty cool and I'm really pumped to get better and learn more about longboarding.
Leighton
After waiting all winter for this class its hard to sit here writing this blog. Even though my board is drying from the coating I just applied and I cant do anything with it right now I wish I was out riding one Wayne's sweet boards. To make my long-board, I went with bamboo, because I was looking for some bounce in the board. Since we are not working with fiberglass or laminated wood I didn't quite get the bounce I was looking for, but the board is looking very nice at this point. I wanted a board that would be symmetrical so I wouldn't have to worry about a front or back, I used the end of one of Andrew's templates as the starting point for my design. I traced out both ends and then played with the middle for a while trying to find a comfortable width and style. The cutting and sanding went smoothly as well as the drilling of holes for the trucks, but at that point I wanted to do a drop-through style. Unfortunately, the trucks we got for the class (Originals) do not work very well with the drop-through method. I would have had to make a cut that wouldn't work for any other brand of trucks and I didn't want to limit myself like that. Against recommendation, I went forward with my plan to make the drop-through style board and hoped for the best. This was the hard part, I had to make a template for the cut and drill it out with precision so I didn't crack the bamboo. After the drill hole I could use a miter saw to cut the rest of it out. That took quite a while and I was in the shop a couple hours after everyone else had left, but if I was going make a long-board I was going to do the best I possibly could. Andrew and Wayne helped me a tremendous amount with everything including making the template and giving me pointers on best way to make the cuts. Wayne said he might be able to help me find some trucks other than the Originals that will work with my board, hopefully I can use his trucks as they are amazing. I am a little behind everyone else because of the different style I went with, but the finished product will be more than worth it. I hope to start putting on graphics later today. I want to give a shoutout to Mr. Halloway for the being the shop master and helping everyone so much.
Dan
I’m a pretty lazy guy, so most of my motivation for creating a long board came from wanting to cruise around. Making a long board, however, is not for the sluggish.
Each aspect of creating a satisfactory long board takes acute attention to detail as well as a great deal of effort. One slip up while working with a high-powered saw could mean disaster, so safety has been accentuated time and time again by our instructors. “Make sure you leave with all twelve fingers!”- Mr. Lavigne
While I only have eight fingers, (two thumbs) I think I got the point.
I have yet to experience the thrill of rolling around on my own unique creation, but the excited anticipation is a part of the ride. At this point, my long board needs further sanding and coats of polyurethane.
My unfinished board is fat and tall and I think that I’m going to name it Albert. I’m looking forward to sustaining many types of injuries while riding Albert: stress-fractures, concussions, burns, and probably a couple splinters. These are injuries inevitable and I’m no stranger to hospitals, but for now I must finish Albert.
WISH ME LUCK,
Nathan H.
From now on, Hanover, New Hampshire should rename itself to Dogtown. Dogtown is a nickname for a portion of Santa Monica, California, where the skateboarding world changed forever. This week in Hanover, a group of highschoolers (including myself) were given the chance to construct longboards. Taught by professional builders and experienced riders (Wayne from surf_rodz and Andrew from Green Street Longboards), we began to write our own history, and put Hanover on the longboarding map.
As the sun came out, so did everyone's creative spirit. We were given the choice of which wood to construct with, and free range on the design of our boards. Unlike many of the participants in this class, I already have two longboards of my own, so I decided to make a different style board than the ones I already have. While I may have mild experience with the riding aspect of longboarding, aside from an 8th grade wood shop class, I have little experience building with wood. This is where the class has rewarded me the most. Starting with a hunk of bamboo and turning it into my own board has been a great experience. It makes one realize that it isn't just about riding, it's about creating something to be proud of. I think it's safe to say that everyone will roll away from this class with a new found appreciation for riding, building, and the evolving longboard culture.
Erin
Longboard Collective
Longboarding is as foreign a thing as flying a plane for me. I have always joked with my friends that I am more comfortable on things with two wheels, such as a bike, rather than a four-wheel board. Learning to ride by the end of the week would certainly be an option, but hanging my board on my bedroom wall was a bit more appealing. Come Tuesday, the sound of the planing machine, drills and sanding tools bounced about my head till around bedtime, but I was understanding the whole concept of building a board from scratch.
The excitement that both Wayne and Andrew brought to each student was amazing and helped with the construction aspect tremendously. I didn't want to make their jobs too hard, but I found that I behaved like a deer in head lights when they asked me questions about what kind of riding I wanted to do, or what kind of flex I wanted my board to have. No, I do not want to do tricks, and sure, why not have some nice flex? The possibilities were endless, and if one were to look around the shop, they would see kids with their hungry eyes framed by ridiculous retro safety glasses, florescent ear protectors fastened tightly around their ears, and a smile that mostly stretched wide enough to inhale copious amounts of saw-dust and convey their excitement. Lunch break of the second day introduced me to riding. My friend and I escaped to the school's track and it was there that I received my first riding lesson. She was nice to work with, brought humor and experience to the table, and was forgiving of my inexperience and happy to teach. I found that I was able to do a couple of shaky kicks and could not execute a full-on turn, but I came away from that thirty-minute session better balanced and excited about trying out my own board. It was like all of the sudden the Longboarding gods reigned justice upon my anti-riding thoughts. I'd say it was the greatest turning point yet.
Coming into the course without any experience or expectations, I have found that I have become psyched about the whole philosophy of the Collective, from building to riding our wonderful creations. The unique thing about this course is that everyone thinks and creates differently, and we have some amazing help from our teachers to show us how to engineer these ideas. They stated to us on day one that the possibilities are endless and that there are no rules, something that you don't often hear when you reach the age of adolescence. But while the course has focused on these concepts, the importance of giving back to the community and appreciating the opportunities that Mr.Lavigne, Mr.Goodall-Heising, and Mr.Halloway have given us are amazing. I have learned that all it takes is hard work, dedication, creativity and appreciation for the opportunities that are given to us to make it all work. When you follow through on those things, good things will happen. Erin D.
Will I.
I have been longboarding for about 3 years now and i have always wanted to build my own someway or another, luckily my school opened up a longboard making class, which is jumped all over. Shaping a longboard is not actually as hard as it seems. I came into this class wanting to build a basic pintail shape that i could take down hills at extreme speeds. I picked a nice piece of bamboo and got to work on the shape. After i had cut it out i sanded and sanded and sanded until it was as smooth as i wanted. When i was finally done with the sanding i put 3 coats of clear varnish on the bottom and one on the top. I will soon be putting sand on the top for grip and then finally i will put the trucks and wheels on and get riding. This was a really cool experience and it has made me interested in making and shaping many more longboards to come. Longboarding is a really sweet and easy way to get places. Now that i am almost done all i can think about is getting out on the pavement and riding my brand new longboard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
