On a Roll

When Charlotte was two she wanted to sit on my skateboard and to be pushed around the house. The problem was that she would sit too far back on the rear kicktail, and she would fall off onto her back.

Then the waterworks would come. That's not fun for anyone.

This gave me an excuse to look at longboards. I had always thought they were cool, and most decks have no kicktail.

I was reading a longboard forum when I came across a project called a "short-longboard."

Some skaters were taking a short street deck and moving the trucks out onto the kicktails. The idea was to give the deck a "longboard" feel. Some skaters installed wider longboard trucks and bigger wheels to enhance this effect.

The truck on the left is in the original position. The truck on the right is in the new spot.

One complaint about this modification was that the ability to "kick up" the nose or the tail was eliminated. That caught my attention. So, the board will have a lower center of gravity, and it can't tip forwards or backwards?  I already had a beater board in the garage. Why not grab the drill and see what happens?

The small skate wheels were fine in the hallway, but the driveway at our first house was a bit rough, and the cracks were wide enough to stop the board. I added rubber wedges for comfort and used larger Sector Nine wheels to roll over the tough spots.

Original sized wheel on the left.

I think the "short-longboards" were a fad that died out quickly, but this board has been popular at our house for years. When Charlotte grew older, she'd ride the board down to the bottom of the driveway where I was waiting to catch her. Now she rides the sidewalks solo.

Here's her newest short-longboard - the used Sector Nine wheels are even bigger on this one.

I offered to put wider trucks on the board to help with speed wobble, but she wants to keep the Monster trucks because she likes the evil eyes.

Full disclosure: She does not know her multiplication tables.

I'm looking forward to the time when she'll dare to stand on the board, and we can ride together, but for now she's being safe and having fun.

That's all that matters, really.

Hamma Time

I suppose everyone deals with their grief and loss in their own way.

I found myself unable to stay in any one place for much time. Charlotte's a perfect distraction, but after she goes to bed, I would pace. I'd climb the stairs and look in the fridge. I'd close the fridge's door and walk down the steps to the garage. Once there, I'd circle around and head back upstairs to see if I wanted anything in the fridge. I couldn't watch TV for more than five minutes in a row, and I know I was irritating Daphne.

What to do?

I needed a project that could stop me from just spinning my wheels. I needed to make something that required little skill, no emotional investment, and no shopping: it's too late to hit a store once Char falls asleep.

During my fifth walking tour of the garage, I spotted a pair of skateboard trucks in a storage box.

As soon as I picked up a truck and spun one of its wheels, I knew what I was going to do. I was going to make a skateboard. It didn't matter what the skateboard looked like when I was done. It didn't matter if I could actually ride the skateboard when it was finished. All that mattered was that I could keep my hands busy.

Step 1: Find something to attach the skateboard trucks to.
I had a few options here. I could bolt the trucks onto some leftover wood from our deck (too crude), an old shovel (too unwieldy), or an old textbook (too wordy). In the end I chose the bottom half of a water ski. (I might revisit that textbook idea if I find the right book).

Step 2: Shape the board.
The water ski was cut in half at an odd angle, so I used one of Daphne's planter's pots to shape a rounded end. Why use a pot? It's the first thing I saw.

Step 3: Cut the board.
This is a one-man operation. I can't show you me cutting the board, but this is what it looks like after the cut is made.

Step 4: Drilling the holes.
Okay, if you're observant, you'll notice that the above picture already shows that I drilled holes for the front truck. I got ahead of myself, and I forgot to take any pictures during early construction. But really, that was the whole point. I needed some time to not think.

Making anything into a skateboard isn't rocket science. Just find the center of each truck with a ruler, mark both sides of the truck with a dot, and then "snap" a chalk line down the center of whatever you want to skate on. Line up the dots with the chalk line, mark the truck's holes in the surface, and you're ready to drill.

Step 4: Drill the holes.
The water ski was thicker than the length of the truck's screws, so I first drilled a hole that the threaded part of the screw could fit through. Then I drilled a larger hole about half way down, so the head of the screw could descend deeper into the wood. Yes, I could just buy longer screws, but again, it was too late to go shopping. I repeated this step seven more times.

Step 5: Install the trucks.
When I removed the metal fin that was attached to the bottom of the ski, it left a large footprint of discolored wood. I decided it might be fun to incorporate the fin into the skateboard by cutting it down to meet the rear truck. Since I really didn't care, I just guesstimated the angle and attacked the fin with a hacksaw to see what would happen. I was surprised that it went so well.

Step 5.1: Install the trucks with the fin.

I wasn't sure of how to bolt the fin back onto the board, but I tucked the back metal underneath the cushion of a rubber riser, and all was well. The front of the fin is secured with screws and a couple of acorn nuts that I thought looked neat.

Step 6: Varnish the front.
I had no idea if "Honey Pine Satin 310" would match the original stain, but I used it because it was what I could find on our garage shelves. The finish looks far better than it has any business looking.

At this point I thought the skateboard was done, but then I noticed that the small, modern wheels looked out of place.

Skateboards made with hard wood like this were popular from the 50's to the early 70's, and this truck and wheel combo is from a much more recent time period. I couldn't do anything about the trucks, but I installed some vintage wheels from an old roller skate to keep that 70's vibe alive.

Ahhh. Cue the disco music.

Step 7: Apply grip tape.

The back of the board looks really messy with all those holes.

But scrap grip tape can clean things up quite nicely.



Step 8: Name it.

Because my new skateboard has a strange ventral fin and a strange rounded head, I decided to call this guy The Hamma. He reminds me of a hammerhead shark, a pretty strange looking fish.

Look out! The Hamma's coming at cha'!

Step 9: Blog about it.