I speculated before about using a shlong for LDP (without cutouts, of course), because that design has inherent wedging built into the trucks - and for LDP, you built up quite a bit of wedging.
Yet all LDP boards seem to be flat (not counting any camber).
So, I thought that warranted an experimental build.
How about building an LDP shape, with an upturned bend just aft of the front truck for a little inherent wedging (and maybe a more comfy place to put your foot where it's less likely to slide off the nose)? Edit: I nearly forgot to mention the side-benefit of having the front area behind the front trucks dropped lower a bit, making it easier to step off and push when you do need to... or even just to get going.
Since this is an experiment, I didn't want to go through all the expense and hassle of buying good veneers, epoxy, 'bagging supplies, designing and building a press, etc...
So, I started with this, from Eastbilt
It's 48" long, almost 13" wide, and has 29" between the kicknose and kicktail.
Good experiment material for $30 and I can just watch TV until it arrives...
[whistles while I wait]
In all seriousness, it's pretty close to what I would have pressed myself. I probably would have gone for 5 plies rather than 7. I might or might not have done a concave with that 5 ply. I might have gone a touch steeper on the nose. But really, not far off.
I ordered it Friday, it showed up yesterday (Tuesday). Can't ask for much better than that!
Tuesday I spent some time laying out a basic shape that I had been pondering, and the drill patterns.
This evening after work, I made some tweaks to the final shape, added the hourglass, refined the nose, etc.
After about 15 minutes with the jigsaw and maybe another quick 15 on the upright belt sander, this is what I have so far:
As you can see, I gave it a tail for doing manuals. Or... I doubt very much I'll be able to ollie this beast - but if I could ollie up a curb even that would enhance the places I could do some LDP with this thing! Hello, downtown!
It's about 42" long, and 11" wide. I gave it a bit of wheelbase adjustment - two locations in the back, and four up and down the nose. Wheelbase range can be anywhere from about 27" to 29.5", measured from the inside truck mounting holes.
I probably should stain this thing... I'm not going to go crazy, probably not even do much more sanding - this is an experiment after all. If it works, I'll build a "real" version, right?
I'd do a cool color, but where do you get funky colored stain?
Looks pretty innovative, I just think its a bit big for pumping, might've wanted to find a way to cut off some of the extra space on the nose and tail (unless you find it functional).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blix
A good skater on a waterlogged beater with rusty bearings and bent trucks will beat your ass on a Dee-Lite Hellcat, Maguns and O-tangs.
I like the shape and the idea. I had a board with an upturned nose that I made into a ldp. It was not as extreme as yours though. I found that to keep the wheels from biting I had to wedge it way up anyway since the board is on a downslope where the wheels come back and up in a turn. In addition with my front foot angled forward I got some serious arch cramps on the transition from flat to nose. On yours though it looks like your whole foot would fit on the nose kick, and with the front truck mounted way forward you may get an effective drop. Interested to hear how it does since you may not have the problems I did!
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I'd do a cool color, but where do you get funky colored stain?
magic
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[gd0g34] 9:41 pm: and buy out his favorite products at the grocery store so he cant get his shopping done and his family gets pissed
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[gd0g34] 9:42 pm: and put grip tape on his daughters slipand slide then spray paint it yellow
Looks pretty innovative, I just think its a bit big for pumping, might've wanted to find a way to cut off some of the extra space on the nose and tail (unless you find it functional).
There isn't much extra space on the nose... I wanted to leave a tad up front for maybe doing a nose manual... but then laughed at myself, picturing my loose Bennett with the 73A Khiros in it.
The width up there is because that's where you stand - right over the truck bolts.
And the tail is because I'm one of the many people who pop up on threads and say "...what about [a deck like that] with a kick tail?" In my case, it's because I love to manual, know how to ollie, and know how to ride through and over large obstacles by unweighting my front wheels. So I figure - what's a tail going to hurt?
It is definitely on the massive side - 11" is wide, 10" is probably where I should be with it - but I figure if I start wide, I can always trim... can't do that if you cut it narrow then want it wider though.
11" was actually decided by standing on it and leveraging back and forth with my size 10.5's, feeling where my foot pressed - I do want to maximize leverage.
I may mount it up and figure out where I have wheelbite, then take the grinder to it and cut out wheelwells that come almost all the way through the board.. we'll see!
What is that - fabric dye? Like RIT dye? Get it at a fabric store like JoAnne fabrics I presume?
Hmm... That can't make for an actual seal though, right? What do you do, clearcoat over it?
geole, will be uber interested in how this works out!! I think that flat rear mount is on the right track...
attached are a couple shots of that Afroman I told you about. i drilled a couple sets of holes in both nose and tail and made my own wood wedge for the rear + a single khiro wedge, but basically all it did was slightly dewedge and bring the truck to the same level as the bottom of the deck (keeping everything as low as possible)
i just never got this one to work well but mainly because i moved onto other things at the time, this was about the time Sheldon got his Bustin so I wanted to try something similar, a lowered deck that still pumped well. had a randal 150 on the front and dewedged indy 139 on the rear. wheelbase was 31.5" which was about 2-3" too big, if I dug this one out again I'd drill a wheelbase just before the kicktail on the flat section.
i think your bennett front and either seismic or tracker rear will be better, the rest will just be wedge and bushing tinkering. Will be watching!
geole, will be uber interested in how this works out!! I think that flat rear mount is on the right track...
attached are a couple shots of that Afroman I told you about. i drilled a couple sets of holes in both nose and tail and made my own wood wedge for the rear + a single khiro wedge, but basically all it did was slightly dewedge and bring the truck to the same level as the bottom of the deck (keeping everything as low as possible)
i just never got this one to work well but mainly because i moved onto other things at the time, this was about the time Sheldon got his Bustin so I wanted to try something similar, a lowered deck that still pumped well. had a randal 150 on the front and dewedged indy 139 on the rear. wheelbase was 31.5" which was about 2-3" too big, if I dug this one out again I'd drill a wheelbase just before the kicktail on the flat section.
i think your bennett front and either seismic or tracker rear will be better, the rest will just be wedge and bushing tinkering. Will be watching!
Thanks - I sent you a PM - there's another experimental aspect that I want to do to this...
Might save it for (should save it for, Dr. Scientist says) a round II modification to this deck.
For now, I might paint this and give it a ride.
It's very rigid as-is, as you might expect an 11" wide, concave, 7-ply maple board to be... I'm pondering routering through two plies. between the wheelbase. Thoughts?
Interesting on the big wedge on the back - I can see how that would help drop the whole deck surface. I won't get discouraged that THAT one didn't work out, even in your expert hands.. (oh god! noooo!!!!)
What's your opinion on pumping a board that's rigid like this?
Bear in mind my ONLY point of reference comes from 20 years of riding shortboards in skateparks... and one summer with a Gravity 35" Diamondtail (which seems to have nice flex).
LDP experiment
magic
