I came into this class knowing nothing about longboarding. But today, I learned about the different shapes longboards take and the most popular ones. I worked very hard and got covered in sawdust but I had fun and I am proud of how my longboard is turning out. I have no idea what designs I’m going to put onto it.

Nic

I chose a symmetrical design on a piece of wood with a lot of contrast between dark and light woods. I like the look of the wood and I chose the symmetrical tapering at the ends because I like the look and i think it will be a sweet ride. I had to rethink my shape a little bit midway through the day because I was getting wheel bite. I kept the same style, but made the ends skinnier to make enough room.

Peter

Today I started with a plank of wood and turned it into a smooth longboard. It is amazing what you can do in a matter of hours. One of my favorite parts of today was definitely when we put the boards into a large sander and it came out smooth and beautiful. We started with it covered in messy glue so when it came out it looked like a completely different board! Can't wait to make a design tomorrow for the Board.

Clayton

I came in pretty sure I wanted make a pintail longboard. It looks sleek and it was for basic cruising, which was perfect for me, since I'm pretty inexperienced. It took me two drafts on paper, but I finally got a design I liked. I was not very careful with the bandsaw and it took me a couple of rounds of sanding and breaking at least one handsaw but I eventually got my rough shape. When we tested it with the wheels I was going to have to dig some serious wells or figure out a cutout, or deal with major wheelbite. I went the cutout route, and after scavenging throughout the shop I found an ovular drill base that was the perfect shape. I ended up with an awesome hammerhead shape I'm excited to work with and put graphics on.

Ross

Today, on the first day of Hanover High School’s March Intensive, “The Longboard Collective” worked on the design and construction of longboards. Throughout the design section we had to overcome obstacles such as making sure are longboards wouldn't have any wheel bite and also make sure they would support are weight.  

During the construction half I worked on making sure the hole longboard was even on both sides and thoroughly sanded. We also made sure our trucks were lined up and  drilled holes for them.

Kyle

So far I have cut out the shape of my board, sanded out any imperfections, and then sanded the board to make it smooth. I've always loved longboards and it was my favorite thing to do with my older brother when I was younger as he was the one who taught me how to ride. I'm making this longboard to give to him as a reminder of how much fun we used to have riding together at home and I'm hoping I can make a graphic to go along with that.

Kate

When we were planning on using normal-looking plywood for the longboards, I had several ideas for graphics, but after we switched to the beautiful glue-up boards, I had a much more difficult time deciding what to put on mine.  I didn’t want to cover the wood grain with paint, but I still wanted to do a cool and unique design.  After some research, I decided that I would do one of my original designs, except substituting watercolor paint for the spray paint.   Water colors would allow the wood grain to show through, and the more muted tones wouldn’t class with the wood.  The shape also had to be changed:  I was originally planning on a modern shape with cutouts, but the wood seems to look best in an old-school surf style shape.

Tim

The first day of march intensive was very eventful. In just the first half of the day we learned how to shape, design, and cut our blanks to create something that resembled a longboard. At first we created a stencil to make sure we knew what we wanted our boards to look like. After this we took our blanks to the workshop and got started. We first did a rough cut of the board and then sanded the edges to make it more smooth. Over the course of the day I have already learned so much and I can’t wait for the rest of the week. 

Cam