How A Skateboard Deck is Made: Mike Vallely, Popular Mechanics
Introduction:
In the late 1980s, during my mid-teen years, I immersed myself in the skateboarding culture, finding solace in its distinctive clothing style, punk music, and the individualism it offered me. Being slightly below average in height and outgrowing football, I gravitated towards a sport where I could challenge myself, even if it seemed competitive from an outsider's perspective at a skate event. Outsiders think we compete with each other, and on some level we do, but skateboarding is mostly a personal challenge.
During this time period our family experienced financial fluctuations from poor to middle class. Affording a $50 skateboard deck ranged from feasible to, at best, a once-a-year Christmas gift. With the uncertainty of parental support for my next deck, wheels, and trucks, I decided to venture into building my own skateboards. While manufacturing wheels and trucks were beyond my capabilities, the deck seemed like a manageable DIY project.
With about 10 minutes of contemplation, I decided to craft my own Hosoi style decks, thinking it would be a straightforward task – cut plywood, shape it, create a bent tail, drill holes, and assemble. Little did I know, it was slightly more involved than this.
Lacking knowledge on bending wood, I recalled how my outdoor ramps warped in the rain. I gathered two concrete blocks, a freshly cut plywood board, and headed to my parents' bathtub, much to their frustration.
Filling the tub with hot water, I submerged the deck, using blocks to apply pressure for the tail to bend. Initially, it seemed futile, but after a few hours and several water changes, the board started to warp. Over three days, I achieved the desired shape, and returned to the good grace of my parents.
After sanding, drilling truck holes, and assembling the board, I adorned it with art using markers. Convinced I had outsmarted the system, I reveled in my creation until the next morning.
Eagerly heading to my makeshift skatepark, my joy was short-lived. My masterpiece turned out to be a piece of garbage, skating poorly and feeling fragile. Within minutes, I abandoned my DIY attempt and returned to admiring Hosoi's professionally made boards.
Recently rekindling my interest in skateboard manufacturing as a hobby, I delved into the history and methods of modern skateboard manufacturing. While I could detail the process step by step, I stumbled upon a video that encapsulated it perfectly. This wordless masterpiece by Mike Vallely succinctly illustrates the art of skateboard manufacturing, sparing the internet from redundant information. If you're keen on crafting a cool deck, this video offers a concise and expert guide, leaving me breathless with its simplicity and effectiveness.
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“The first skateboard presses that I built where literally out of dumpsters.” In Long Beach, California, Street Plant is doing things their own way. The skateboard company operates out of founder Mike Vallely’s garage, affectionately dubbed ‘Garageland,’ behind the Vallely home.
Vallely and his daughter, Emily, founded the company back in 2015 and worked closely with Daniel Creadon, owner of Factory13 Skateboards, to create a custom, sustainable, environmentally friendly line of boards called @STREETPLANT Naturals.
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