For $300 couldnt you just buy a handheld router and a big plank of wood and vacuum bag it with a few layers of s-glass for reinforcement? After the initial investment in the tools your cost could come down to like, $15 per board.
If only it were that easy. I encourage you to try. But i don’t think you will be happy with the results. There’s a reason we don’t make non electric boards like that, traditionally at least.
My newest method is closest to the way you would make a non electric skateboard deck.
You need veneers or you can’t press it into a shape. The reason skateboards don’t crack just from standing on them is becuase you do layers cross crossing the grain. You essentially pancake horizontal and vertical grains to create a lot of strength.
Plywood has its shape, and you can’t just change its shape with glue. Veneers aren’t cheap though, especially when they need to be this thick.
I made this deck the newb way and it took way too long (100-150 hours). Most people do not have that kind of time. This is why you outsource the work to those who have figured out the best methods.
I’ll try it for sure as soon as I get my hands on a router! I’ve been riding a 9x21x1.5 inch plank of unknown wood (~$3.50) for about 2 weeks now bare with no wood sealer or fiberglass layers and it’s been alright, though I’m not sure how I could test for wear/tear/damage until it actually breaks. my board is also wayyy shorter than what most people ride.
The thing is, I started with Canadian maple plywood. It I made some cool boards with it. But I was unable to put concave into it. So it was a flat deck. Yes, it work. I rode it for quite some time. But it’s awkward going anything faster than 15 mph on it. This is why I’ve stepped up to veneers. Now, I can press shapes and create concave. The lack of concave was the main complaint (along with the thickness) of my first board. I eliminate both of those problems (well the thickness is halved atleast) with veneers.
You can scrape out a concave from a solid piece, although it takes a little time if done by hand.
It depends. If you use plywood, you will have issues with it falling apart when you try curve concave out of it. Solid pieces won’t have this issue, but good luck finding a piece maple or birtch that is large enough and not a plywood. I searched for a week, going from lumber yard to lumber yard. I only found one place that hard such a piece and they wanted way too much money for it, way more than just using veneers.
Too bad there’s as many specialty hardwood shops around as there used to be.
Honestly, with the right tools, this shouldn’t take more than a 24 hour press and a few hours per deck. The problem though, is the right tools are more than the total profit I could ever make from selling these boards to the community, so I have to find alternatives. I really think this new method of mine will work. But I will see soon enough.
Just wanted to give everyone an idea of the actual cost of raw materials needed to make a deck. This still doesn’t include sanding paper, which I can’t really calculate right now as I have no idea how much I will need. I also need to rent a place to work on these in, which will be likely be around around $600 per month. And this also doesn’t include the cost of electricity and tool maintenance. My goal is to get this to a place where I can sell these for $150. Small, just over an inch thick, 12s2p with bms or 10s3p without bms with vesc-x and mono drive. Could be used for an eco board, which would be pretty light.
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