What type of wood for a deck?

ESK8 Mechanics
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I am thinking about making a deck for my eboard and I wasn’t sure what kind of wood to get. I want a deck that is stiff but is still as light as possible. What thickness should it be? What type of wood should I use? thanks for your help

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If you have the tools (just lots of clamps really) and a former, you can always laminate plywood into the shape of your deck. As a guess, try 7 or 8 layers of 2mm thick plywood, remembering to alternate the directions of the grain of the wood, so that the grain below any layer is at 90 degrees to the one above :slight_smile:

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Canada maple, very good if you want rather stiff deck.

Baltic birch, if you are on a low budget but still want a pretty decent deck.

Bamboo, if you want a flexy deck and have a higher budget.

Thickness wise I keep my decks between 1.2cm to 1.6cm. Depends on the thickness of the layers of multiplex. I like to keep them between 2.5 to 3.5mm and use 3 to 4 layers.

Small tip, don’t save up on the glue… use enough of that stuff haha

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Thanks for your help!

Do you have any suggestions for what template and/or shape I should use?

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Templates and shapes are for your own personal preference. You can look at other builds threads and find inspiration for shapes.

You can go with a no concave so width wise the board is flat or with a small concave so it’s like a valley shape.

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Check out this thread, https://www.electric-skateboard.builders/t/printable-pdf-templates-any-deck/12170?u=speedygornzallez, it has loads of actual size deck templates you can print out using Adobe. I’m currently using a DIY vanguard deck using 4 layers of 4mm birch at the moment and it has nice bounce as well as good stiffness but I don’t really like the thickness, so I’m planning on making a bamboo fibre glass deck which should be only 11mm thick with flex

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For a slightly flexy deck, outside layers should be bamboo and core, maple. Plus bamboo looks the best imo

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You can just get really thick plywood and carve out the center and hide all the electronics inside.

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and cover it with carbon fiber for aesthetic reasons :wink:

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^ This guy knows stuff!!

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