WakeWorld - Home Made wakeskates

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I just finished building my own wakeskate all i have to do is put some grip tape on it and ill be done.... Heres the plans i used and some pics... Using this type of construction will give you something similar to a Cassette Wakeskate. The general idea is epoxying a bunch of wakeskate shaped thin wood layers together in a bent formor using a long sheet of 6 ply sheeting, resulting in a solid wakeskate. It should take around a week to complete it. It will only cost about 60 Cdn bucks after wood, epoxy, urethane, and grip tape. Tools and materials • 1/8” thick wood sheeting • Lots of epoxy • Can of urethane • Grip tape or foam padding • clamps • Some boards to stack under the tip and tail for a drying rack • Some weight to rest on the middle of the board while in drying rack • saw Design First you want to determine the size and shape of your board. Look on the internet at various companies’ wakeskate specs for reference. Generally they are between 40 and 45” long and about 15” wide, with 1.5-3 inches of rocker. Wood Now that you have your design, you will need some wood to make the thing. Go to the store and buy some 1/8” thick wood sheeting. Buy enough to cut 4 to 6 patterns of design out. To prevent wasting money on too much wood or not buying enough wood, it helps if you draw out your board shape to scale on the computer and see how many layers you can fit on certain size sheets of wood. Layers Once you have the wood, draw your board shape on a piece of cardboard or something to make the template. Then transfer the outline onto your wood and cut out however many layers you want. Make sure all your layers are fairly even with each other to save sanding time later. Epoxy You should have about 6 patterns of your board cut out of the wood sheeting now. Before you epoxy them all together you will need to set up a place for the board to dry while keeping it bent. I just made 2 piles of boards 3” high to rest the tip and tail on, then put weight on the middle of the board to bend it to the ground while it dried. Make sure that the boards under the tip and tail are square with the board otherwise u will get a twist in the board. Now you are ready to epoxy. Find the nicest face to make the bottom of your board, then completely coat the top of it with epoxy and then lay another layer on top of it. Find some way to get lots of pressure by squeezing the two layers together, I put a bunch of C-clamps around the board. Let it dry overnight before removing the pressure. In the morning you should be able to remove the weights and clamps and find the board together and bent just how you wanted it. Personally I let each layer dry separately with this process. You could probably do it all at the same time if you wanted. The Edges Now the structure of your board is done and you just have to finish it. Take a File or some kind of sander and round off your jagged layered edges. Round the corners of the boars as you please as well. When all that is done, check alone the edges of the board for any cracks or separation between layers and fill those in with some more epoxy and pressure if needed. Fins If you want fins on your board, You can either just drill some holes for normal wakeboard fins or shape some of your own and epoxy them to the bottom of the board. I sanded a pair out of a garden stake and it worked out fine. Urethane After you’ve drilled your holes or stuck some of your own fins on the bottom, the board is ready to be sealed. I got some Spray on urethane from walmart which worked well. Follow the application directions cause it’s important. Get lots on the edges of the board to prevent water from getting between the layers and separating them. Grips Now your board is done, You just need to be able to stay on it. Wakeskate companies either make boards with some type of foam foot pads to stand on, or else they have grip tape requiring you to wear some skate shoes. I chose the grip tape option, So just go to the skate shop and buy twice the length of your board in grip tape, then run two strips of it side by side down the board and trim. Make sure the grip tape is on well or else it will start to pull off once you use it a few times and you will loose it all. Now you are done the hard part. Now you are free to add graphics or fins as you please. I am not sure how to put pics on but if someone will tell me ill post some pics

hey bro how much did all this cost?

$60. the epoxy is what costs alot........ ill post pics when i get it grip taped

sikk...ill be lookin in to makin one now, thanks man

What kind of epoxy did you use? I'm making a wood wakesurfer with about the same process. And Also what brand of urethane. I've just been using fiberglass resin to stick it all together.

When i went to the store there was only 1 epoxy and i dont remember what it was but i didnt use urethane, i just painted it with enamil paint

Will the shape of the board effect anything? im looking into making one myself.One more question did the urethane or epoxy make the board blue?

epoxy to put the boards together then the blue is blue enamil paint

Dude thats a pretty awesome idea, I think I might try that this summer, I was wondering if you or anyone on here had any idea how, or what kind of foam could be used if you wanted to go that route? And did you do the graphics before you put the urethrane layer on? (Sorry I haven't been on the forums for a while, I know no one has posted on this for a while)

how do you know where to put the fins?

did it tear to shreds or is it workin

Anyone pressed a concave? Or made a mold?

I don't think you can press a wakeskate to get concave (unless it's a top deck for a bi-level). If you do, it will look like the kampus swing, or as i alluded to it, a bi-level top deck. Milling out the concave will allow for the base to remain undisturbed. I guess the only one that's a question mark is that new wakeskate that was posted in the ws.com deck collection. That one looks like it's multiple pieces (if that made sense--I don't think the entire board was all pressed at once)...I'm not certain though.

^that's what I was talking about. I am currently screwing around on Rhinoceros and laying out some templates/molds for skates and can easily covert that into g-code to cut out the negatives on the CNC. I just was wondering if anyone has pressed some top decks and what size press (in terms of press weight) you need to bend 7-9ply.

It wouldn't be too hard to make a bi-level would it . . . Couldn't you make something like what Brad did for the bottom and then make pretty much the same thing just a little longer for the top ?

man i love the deck... but im not a big wakeskater but maybe you should round the corners a bit... they look alittle tough if you fall on them. but other than that the deck is sick.. you have inspired me

Here's my home made skate.

for my homemade wakeskate i used gorilla glue. its $18 american for 18 ozs. if you roll it on with something like a paint roller it will be enough for 4 or 5 boards, but i made mine with quarter inch ply instead of 1/8 inch to cut down on glue

won't gorilla glue break down in water after a while?

no, and im going to seal it somehow, i just dont know how yet

Try using Resin or epoxy. And then Post your pics