My first board! (Zappa fans?)

**whitmell** · 11-28-2005 08:37 AM

I took two 1/4" sheets of baltic birch, laid down a layer of epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth in between, since I didn't have any clamps I tightened wood screws every inch all around the shape of the board (probably worked better than clamps b/c it was an even seal all the way around). Then I stained it twice with cherry, painted zappa on with acrylics, and polyurethaned the whole thing about 10 times to finish it off.

It's about 31.5 inches, exactly 9 inches at its widest point. It has just enough flex to give a little when carving but is stiff enough to ride hard and not have to worry about breaking it.

The first pic shows the shape more accurately, and the second pic shows Zappa a little better.

oh yeah, and right above his head I painted a little "FZ" after I took thes pics, in green, just to kind of fill in the empty space

I'm kind of pissed about that split up by the front truck... I was drilling the holes and the bit got stuck... I got a phone call and left the room, when I came back in I tripped over the bit and snapped it off (stupid), then just decided to continue using the broken bit to drill the last hole. As a result, when it punched through, it ripped off one of the plies there... but the truck will mostly cover it and the stain kind of made it blend in, the flash on the camera makes it look worse than it really is. But it kind of adds to the old school feel of the board anyway.

You can see I kind of quit on the wheel cutouts (just didn't have the right tools, not enough patience for the palm sander). I need to research on here how to do wheel cutouts. I learned a lot from doing this, I think it turned out well but I still have enough wood for at least 3 more decks, I won't make as many mistakes on the next ones...

**pigdog** · 11-28-2005 09:32 AM

Very nice. Did you paint the Zappa pic?

**silversurfer** · 11-28-2005 09:39 AM

Excellent art work and a very nice first board.

**Momona Boe** · 11-28-2005 09:56 AM

NICE!! Frank woulda been proud

**tofman** · 11-28-2005 10:35 AM

that's some skill you got there!!! i love it!

you can sand out wheel wells with a beltsander. use the bit where the band goes over the roller. a stationary beltsander is the best. shame about the drilling incident, but the trucks will cover most of it i reckon.

keep it up!

**whitmell** · 11-28-2005 11:22 AM

thanks, yes I like to think Frank would be proud...

and about the wheel wells, I did some searching and found one guy who did them with a hand held wood rasp, then fine sanded them for appearance. I think this would be my best bet since I don't have access to a working belt sander. I used 5' x 5' baltic birch, and cut this board out of 34" pieces, meaning I have 2 26" pieces waiting for me... My next project I think will be a little mini with a kicktail. I'll be sure to post it when I finish.

P.S. I'm hooked on board building now!

**THOR-ONE** · 11-28-2005 02:27 PM

WOW

huge zappa fan over here, and that is a killer graphic! i use a wood rasp and then sand my wheel wells.

**gorillabiscuits** · 11-28-2005 02:35 PM

Nice work man. I would not be riding that but hanging it up on a wall.

**whitmell** · 11-28-2005 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by gorillabiscuits

Nice work man. I would not be riding that but hanging it up on a wall.

that's funny, my brother said the same thing. This was his Christmas/Birthday present (december bday), along w/ trucks & wheels my parents threw in on. I was like f*ck no, you better ride the $hit out of this thing. The painting only took 2 1/2 hours, the board probably took like 5 or 6. If he wants a painting that bad I'll do one on canvas.

**Pyroshtface** · 11-28-2005 08:11 PM

F*cking nice board man, i too have just gotten into board building (although mine have not come near that good) im thinking of making a mini/ slalom board that has an old school shape and is about 27" i have just finnished making the templet. however i have to make some major adjustments on my first board before i start.

kudos

**EBasil** · 11-29-2005 01:07 PM

Very nice work on the Zappa graphics and board shape!! Too bad about the drilling incident, but "live and learn", right?

**VolvoGuy** · 11-29-2005 01:10 PM

For wheel wells, i get a spray can of some sort (varnish or paint, or whatever) and wrap some 50 grit paper around it and just have at 'er. Then palm sand finish it.

**jmclure** · 11-29-2005 07:45 PM

Nice board Whit
I been meaning to make some boards myself, but keep running either putting it off or having other projects (like the shed that I keep all the wood and parts in needs a new roof). If I don't fix it all the boards and tools will get wet. Nice artwork. My problem is I can't draw for crap, I even have a hard time drawing nice curves for my boards, but I'm getting better at using my jigsaw and router. If you want to get together some time Mon-Fri and work on boards give me a call. I should have gotten ahold of you for Sun night. We bombed Dicks Sporting goods and the new garage next to the town center (we got kicked out after 1 run, but skated at Dicks for an hour. Sorry I'll remember you next time. We had six guys and 8 boards in one car anyway.
Later
Jay

**whitmell** · 11-30-2005 05:48 AM

Originally Posted by jmclure

Nice board Whit
I been meaning to make some boards myself, but keep running either putting it off or having other projects (like the shed that I keep all the wood and parts in needs a new roof). If I don't fix it all the boards and tools will get wet. Nice artwork. My problem is I can't draw for crap, I even have a hard time drawing nice curves for my boards, but I'm getting better at using my jigsaw and router. If you want to get together some time Mon-Fri and work on boards give me a call. I should have gotten ahold of you for Sun night. We bombed Dicks Sporting goods and the new garage next to the town center (we got kicked out after 1 run, but skated at Dicks for an hour. Sorry I'll remember you next time. We had six guys and 8 boards in one car anyway.
Later
Jay

Thanks Jay! Yeah those are the 2 I hit up the most, I live right down Holland and sometimes try to go before work in the morning. The first time I went I had many many runs and never saw a single security guard, every time I've been since I've seen one, a couple of times they actually asked me to leave, the other times they didn't see me or I got away before they could get to me. Why can't there be one good place to skate here where we don't get hassled?? I need to try out great neck bridge. I have enough wood left over to make 3 boards, I'm making a 25 incher with a tail, little nose, and concave (basically like an 80s board) for myself to ride at trashmore, a 40some incher that's basically a Sector 9 Cloud 9 OG clone for my other brother, and then I'll have 2 60 inch plies left over to make myself whatever. I'm thinking something with camber in the 45 inch range. Hit me up next time you guys are out here, 692-9642!

**YachtRat** · 12-03-2005 08:47 PM

You should call it the Dynamo Hum! 8)

**lsdmt** · 12-03-2005 09:11 PM

absolutely sexy man. Great shape and a great painting of a great man.

**dbasmonkey** · 12-06-2005 04:21 PM

another VB board painter! i love your acryllics man, i'm can draw with the best, but suck with a paintbrush. did you use a thickener or anything to change the conistancy there, because it look slike you had some really smooth blending (i could have sworn it was oil pastels till i read on). also, was i the guy that who's article you read about doing the wells with a rasp? you must've had a lot a patience because that takes forever.

**whitmell** · 12-06-2005 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by dbasmonkey

another VB board painter! i love your acryllics man, i'm can draw with the best, but suck with a paintbrush. did you use a thickener or anything to change the conistancy there, because it look slike you had some really smooth blending (i could have sworn it was oil pastels till i read on). also, was i the guy that who's article you read about doing the wells with a rasp? you must've had a lot a patience because that takes forever.

actually, I just used the paint straight from the tube (I use Liquitex), it's pretty thick and easy to work with. I've been using it since I was 7 so I've gotten used to blending with it, although sometimes it does get frustrating that acrylic dries so fast, as opposed to oil. I'm not sure if that was you I read about doing the wells with a rasp, I haven't actually tried it yet. I don't mind spending some extra time doing it, but hopefully it won't take too long... anyway I've seen a some of the DBAS boards on here, you do some pretty nice work yourself. I'm assuming you did the griptape on the bomber board too? If so that was genious! Hopefully we'll skate someday, I told Jay and Victor to let me know if you guys come out this way (Town Center/Dick's) so I can maybe come out. Take it easy!