Build your own wakeskate?

im in the process of building my own wakeskate. right now i have to the wood cut and shaped and the edges sanded anyone got any input on what else i should do?

Graphics!!!

dont forget to put rocker on it, im building one too, what kinda of wood did you use?

Im just testin one right now im usin 3/4 inch plywood. I put it on jack stnads and put a cinder block in the middle to try and make a rocker. What are you doing for the rocker.

a buddy of mine actually soaked the wood first, then let it dry with weight in the middle. Since it dried with the weight on top it created a nice rocker line that actually stayed bent. He then shaped it, sealed it and griped it. After throwing some fins on it, it worked pretty damn good.

im using 9 ply finland birch, i didnt get to the rocker but im going to soak it is some hot @ss water for a while and then bend it while its wet. you can make a really simple jig, say you want a three stage, just get a couple pieces of wood and put the tallest in the center then shorter ones more towards the nose and tail, and then clamp down every thing to your work bench. im makin it in my wood shop class. after i see how this one comes out i want to go to this guy who sells all type of plywood and get some 16 ply canadian maple

ya my rocker isnt working ver well right now but i liek ur idea so im gonna try that with my others. Do you think i should seal it first or paint it first then seal?

paint then seal it, otherwise the paint will come off easily

show us a pic

hey man, my friends and i did this. we used crappy plywood that we found in a dumpster and cut it with a power saw. We then powersanded it down a bit and soaked it in a pool. Unfortunately we got too excited to try it and didnt leave the weight on it long enough to create a rocker while it was wet - DO'NT BE EAGER TO USE IT - LET THE ROCKER SET - ours doesnt ride too well :-P. You can try and set the rocker by setting it on 2 cinderblocks or bricks and putting cinderblock(s) or bricks in the middle to keep weight on it. obviously, do this while its wet. Have fun though!

yal ill get a pic soon but what i did is im also making another board so i put one down then put bricks on each end and then put some c clamps on each side parallel to each toehr so it makes a three stage rocker. im hoping this works im gonna let it sit for a few days. thanx to everyone for the advise.

I make skateboards from scratch and from experience can recommend you are better off using thin sheets of plywood.. baltic birch is the standard... the thinner the sheets which you glue together the more you can play with rocker and other attributes. Use clamps and wood blocks to "jig" the board into a shape.

I would be using epoxy resin and even some fibreglass in between layers and then coat the whole thing in resin.. makes it waterproof.. I've yet to go this route (haven't worked with glassing yet) just using titebond 3 for glue (the best)

so yea there u go, none of this letting wood soak, all you're doing is softening the glue between plys and then letting it reharden, giving less strength in the wood than the original plywood shape

well im not really building layers or anything im just kinda using the board but where can get the stuff to waterproof it?

Brennan, tell us more. Where can you get that quality of wood, can you shape it permanently without doing the layers your self. I'm thinking along the lines of boards like Trickboardz wakesurfers. I bought a surf skate but it was just to small for me. It seemed like a fairly simple design, though their site says they make it layer by layer. The board seemed like it was maybe 3/8" thick.

I'm thinking of something like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/Wakesurfer-wakeskate-skimskate-wakeskate-wakesurfer_W0QQitemZ330036028466QQihZ014QQcategory Z47363QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

hey everyone plans changed and the board didnt bend as much as i wanted to. So i was day dreaming at school today and was thinking about building a bi-level because one of the board has a decent rocker but the other doesnt. Does anyone have any feedback and also what should i use to waterproof the boards?

i was at INT nationals 2 years ago and saw some guy with a homemade skate...it was the best looking skate i have ever seen. I am sure if any of you were there and saw it you would agree. The guy used long narrow strips of wood (not sure what kind) and basically compressed them together lengthways to create the board. Then he hand harved and sanded the top to be concave and sanded the board to have the rocker he wanted. It took him something like 50 man hours for one board but it was the strongest and best looking board ever. He had clear grip tape on the top so you could actually see each section of wood and see all the grain it was sick....just another option that i personally think would be worth the time if you can figure it out....

Check out this thread in WakeSkating.com

http://www.wakeskating.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2317&highlight=homemade

You use epoxy resin to coat the board... same as what a surfboard has on it.. marine shops carry it. it's a big process, I've yet to mess with.

the vertical strip board is what they call "v-lam" for vertical lamination.. It's not easy at all, takes time, usually need a planer to flatten the strips.

I'll show a shot of a skateboard I've made..

basically you get thin wood (plywood shop) You have to really ask around, don't go to home depot, any birch they have most likely won't be baltic birch and if it is, it will be full of knots and plugs of wood which make the wood weak.

I get my sheets from a plywood shop.nuff said

to elaborate.. the sheets you use are thin enough to bend.. when you put glue between the sheets and clamp them in such a way they will stay once dry.. maybe 15-20% FLEX BACK...

check this dudes site, it's where I learned most of what I know http://users.pandora.be/Toothless/Toothless/pages/instructions/instructions_index.html

http://www.brennanp.com/album/skate2.JPG

http://www.brennanp.com/album/freedom/04.jpg

You use epoxy resin to coat the board... same as what a surfboard has on it.. marine shops carry it. it's a big process, I've yet to mess with.

the vertical strip board is what they call "v-lam" for vertical lamination.. It's not easy at all, takes time, usually need a planer to flatten the strips.

I'll show a shot of a skateboard I've made..

basically you get thin wood (plywood shop) You have to really ask around, don't go to home depot, any birch they have most likely won't be baltic birch and if it is, it will be full of knots and plugs of wood which make the wood weak.

I get my sheets from a plywood shop.nuff said

to elaborate.. the sheets you use are thin enough to bend.. when you put glue between the sheets and clamp them in such a way they will stay once dry.. maybe 15-20% FLEX BACK...

check this dudes site, it's where I learned most of what I know http://users.pandora.be/Toothless/Toothless/pages/instructions/instructions_index.html

http://www.brennanp.com/album/skate2.JPG

http://www.brennanp.com/album/freedom/04.jpg

I've posted some similar stuff in the wakesurfing area but here is my press that I made. I got the idea from doing a couple of google searches and then modifying it to my own ideas.



I wanted a concave bottom on mine so I took a 2x12, cut it in half, made the curve on one then outlined it on the other. Took a some old plywood and forced it to fit the curve. Screwing it down to hold it. I also added 2x4's on the back of the press to hold it under compression. I bought two handy panels 1/4" x 24" x48" from home depot -$4 each-. Designed the rough shape of the board but only cut the top deck. Then I outlined the shape on the bottom so I would know where to put the fiberglass resin on. (I didn't use the fiberglass matt, but maybe I should have--of course I'm using this thing for surfing so it should hold.)

Next I sandwiched the panels together, put a screw through each end where my fin hole will be, then put the top half of the press on, added a couple of pipe clamps to hold it tight and let it sit for the night.

In the morning I came out and took the first two pictures. I did a more accurate cut now that both decks were attatched, sanded the edges and painted. (bottom picture)

Now I just need to add some resin to the top, bottom and edges, wait for spring and I'll have my own board, all done for $28 plus some stuff I had laying around the yard. $8 for the wood, $20 for the resin. And for another $30 I can put surfing traction pads on it. Not bad for a wakesurfer price.

The only reason I mention this here is because it would be the same process for a wakeskate.