Alex H.
Today I finalized my board by putting on two coats of poly. The first coat was on the bottom to protect to wood from water and dirt and the top layer was the same except it also had sand in it to act as grip. I also painted my helmet. I painted it black with spades on the sides. Tomorrow we are going to finish our boards.

Joe M.
Today we are putting the final coats of urethane on our boards so we can mount the trucks tomorrow. The whole experience of creating a board from scratch was amazing, just getting to put your own ideas in and in the end know that the final product was purely your creation is a great thing. I would love to pursue the art of making longboard decks in the future and this course has defiantly inspired me to do so.

Jared Geilich
The second to last day of Longboard Collective. It started out really strong. All week, I’ve been worrying about how well my graphic will show up on my light-colored board with a dark stripe down the center. I figured I could either use a dark color for my print and have the middle of the graphic not show up, or use a lighter color and have the outside edges of the graphic not show up. Luckily, Andrew Kittredge came up with the idea to tape off part of the silk screen so I could have a light color over the stripe, and a dark color on the outside. After a lot of taping and printing, I ended up with a SWEET box man holding a balloon printed in white and dark blue on the bottom of my board. After I finished that up, I put polyurethane on the bottom which is now drying. It’s been drying for a few hours. During the drying process, I started assembling the trucks for my board (which are also pretty epic).
It’s pretty incredible to think that tomorrow is already the last day. Everyone has been working hard, and I’ve learned a ton of new things. It seems like it’s been such a short amount of time to build a longboard from scratch. However, I am looking forward to tomorrow when I can finally test this thing out!

Ryan B.

We have been putting the finishing touches on our boards today. It’s really cool to see what different people are interested in. Some find a passion in the sanding and shaping; others are more interested in the graphic design. I decided to spray paint my helmet black today. I have never spray painted before and its awesome to be expose to the wide variety of skills that are needed to build these boards. Every one helps each other out by using each other’s attributes and skills.

        I used the silk screening technique for my graphic design and decided to put the logo on a shirt of mine as well. Trey and Joe thought of the logo while Erin and Colleen cut it out. The logo includes a bear with a ninja carved inside it. It came out really well and I am about to put on the polyurethane.

Alexandra B.
Most people have been working on their graphics, but I chose not to put a graphic on mine. When I got here I put a coat of polyurethane on the top of my board and I am now just waiting for it to dry. Overall the process of making this board and the whole march intensive has been a great learning experience and a lot of fun. The long boarding collective was not one of my first choices when we were signing up and when I got it I wasn’t so sure about it. Now though I am really glad that I was able to be a part of this. I have grown a new appreciation for wood working and definitely skating in general. Sarah and I went out one day to see what we could on the board and we both could definitely use some improvements. But it was really fun, and we have already planned to get out (weather permitting) and see what we can learn. No one will be able to miss us because we painted the flyest helmets out there. We were getting crafty with ‘em. Another cool thing about this march intensive is I have something to take home with me and use all the time. Now I have to go and check and see if my board has dried yet...

Sarah B.
DAAAAAYYYYY THREEEEE. Today I started off by drawing my graphic on my board. We had the option of silk screening our designs on our boards but I drew mine free-hand with a sharpie. It’s a cartoon-esque drawing of a lighthouse. I was nervous that I would make a mistake that would make me never want to look at the bottom of my board, but I’m actually really pleased with the way it came out. Then I put a coat of polyurethane on the top of my board, and now comes the waiting....

These past three days have been a learning experience unlike any I could have had in a normal classroom setting. I love the hands-on aspect of the Longboard Collective and the fact that our final product will (hopefully) be functional. I think that has really encouraged me to take great care in the making of my board. My board is a pretty classic shape, nothing too fancy. I wanted a fairly standard board to learn on. It’s about 38 inches long and it’s nice and wide. I am excited for the snow to melt so I can actually learn how to ride without falling off like I did the other day in the parking lot. No casualties, no worries. Last night Alex and I painted our helmets with paints that her Opa gave her. (Opa is Grandpa in Dutch [and German :-), ed.]) We both did some sponge painting, and had a blast doing work for the longboard collective outside of school. I taught her how to draw a sailboat! I’ve really liked getting to know the kids in my march intensive and spending time with people I normally see very little of. 

[..., ed.]

I am really looking forward to having the drying being done so we can start to assemble our boards. I heard on the radio this morning that it’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully the snow will hold off so we can go outside and SHRED.

Paul B.
Today is very slow, the slowest of the week. I decided not to do a graphic so I put a coat of polyurethane on my board and have been walking around doing nothing. I tried to put a coat of white spray paint on my helmet but I was too close so it began to drip. I also dropped it so there is dust on the wet paint. To remedy this I painted over the dust: now it looks terrible. Later in the day I am planning on making sliding gloves. The ones that Ive seen completed look pretty sweet. Not even joking, sarahs design is the worst of the entire group. It has been a struggle not to laugh.
I have greatly enjoyed these past three days, It has been a very rewarding experience to build something that looks so professional. I cant wait to put the on the trucks and ride on a longboard that I built. This march intensive wasn't my first choice but it has been fun the entire time. I just wish that the weather would've cooperated.

Day 3

Evan L.
Today was probably the slowest day of the week. Aside from coating the board with polyurethane, there was not much to do. Had I known we had so much free time, I may spent some time designing a graphic for my board. However, since it would have taken me a few hours to come up with a good design due to my inadequate drawing skills, I thought I wouldn’t have the time to do graphics. I don’t really mind though. The board looks nice as it is and I might have ruined it had I silk screened graphics on it; but if I were to do it all over again, I would prepared a gnarly graphic for my board. There are also some minor imperfections on my board that I probably should have worked out yesterday before lacquering the board.

My board’s design is pretty unique. Originally, I wanted to put wings on my board but the board wasn’t wide enough and the wings would have been to fragile. I rounded out the wings and made the front more of an arrowhead shape to make it stronger and added a mini set of wings/fishtail to the back which will probably break off. To be continued...

Day 3