Another deck: Speedboard
Background:

The info about this type of deck was found on the website of Chris Chaput .
This is a fairly straight forward design that actually is one of my favorite decks. No bending or glue is involved, just some jigsaw work and dedication to add trucks in drop-through style.
Here you see how I build one for a skateshop owner.
Step1:

It happened to be a sunny day in March...perfect weather to build this thing, after the dark days of wintertime...
This is a leftover piece of 18mm Birch plywood I used for my first speedboard and the press...
Here's a detailed picture...this plywood is made with 15 layers birch veneer of equal thickness...
I always try to keep all templates of the decks I've made in a tidy map...by doing this, I could use the same template I made for the first speedboard...
The deck I will build is 70mm shorter than the first one...this is done because the user weighs a lot more than me :-)
The template was traced along the centerline and then redrawn to make the deck shorter...
All info on how to draw and trace decks can be found in other instructions on this website...
First I did a rough cutout of the deck so that all can be handled a bit easier...cut close to the traced line but leave it visible...fine tuning is done with a belt sander...
For sharp corners I use jigsaw blades for cutting metal...These cut cleaner and you'll have less splinters at the edges...
A comparison with the first speedboard...a bit shorter...same with...
The rough cut must be sanded into final shape now...but that's for tomorrow...
Step2:
Because this deck will have Randal Luge Trucks installed...I took a truck from my streetluge to do some drop-trough drawing work...
First I positioned the truck to see what would be a good spot for the truck...you can see that I didn't trim the deck yet...this is because I might have to alter the shape of it to avoid wheelbite...
All markings are still on the deck and altering it is plain simple still...
First I measured and drew the holes to fix the base plate...then I measured the square shape of the truck itself...this is the stuff that has to go if we want to fit the truck through the deck...
Because the base plate has two re-enforcements on the side...I have to draw those to...These are extra cut-away's at an angle...

But...there's an important issue here!!!
I MADE A MISTAKE!!!...yep, you read it well...I made a mistake...it must have been the sunny day that caused this one...birds whistling...nice cup off coffee...building a deck...
If you don't see it...just scroll down...
Holes were drilled and things were cut...again I used the metal cutting blade on my jigsaw...
Here's the mistake...I drew the 2 slots for the truck re-enforcements at the wrong side...They were dully redrawn and cut out at an angle
This shows that even experienced people make mistakes...so do surgeons and pilots...and...eerrr, longboard builders ;D
I'll correct this later...
It all fits well...as you can see...the mistake doesn't stand out and can be corrected easily...Now it's time to the rear truck mount work and to finish to perfect and pro condition...
Couldn't stop:
As you can see...it's getting darker...I did the cutting for the rear truck too and filled the "mistake" (dear me...still can't understand I made this one)...

Next came the edge trimming...again I used my belt-sander to do this...lines were traced whith a pencil...so I could see what I took away...After doing that, the rails were sanded by hand...to have a circular section...

Next, the curves had to undergo the same treatement...this was done with this handy 'Dremel' tool I sometimes use...again a pencil traced line was used...

It went dark here but I managed to finish and varnish the deck...couldn't take more pictures...so that's for tomorrow...

I'm allready thinking about fitting graphics...and what I should ask for the deck...remember...although it looks straight forward to build you can't charge a good price for it...This is not simply cutting out a shape, style it and do graphics, if it is not for your own use...
That's why I don't work commercial...every now and then I build something on demand but not often...there's no commercial gain in DIY decks...except building the Gucci or the Mercedes of all skates...and that's what I'm trying here...this baby is exclusive...and finished to extreme standards...
Yep...it's a "Toothless", made in Antwerp/Belgium, deck :-)
More later!

Ive "Toothless" Vandewalle