building a retro 60's sidewalk surfboard???

BOXKARS
Shop deals on ebay
Bike Wall
shop deals on amazon
Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Von Stans

Von Stans

Joined
Feb 22, 2008
Messages
514
Reaction score
12
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
OK so i have gotten this crazy idea to build an old school skateboard even though i have never really been very good at riding them...... and i was wondering since there are so many talented pple on this forum that maybe someone has built one before if so i am curios what kinda wood is the best to use and any idea's that might be around that i maybe would not think of.....

longboards.jpg


philedwards710.jpg
 
I made a number of wood boards back in the day and I don't think it really matters exactly what type of wood you use as long as it is relatively hard. Oak, maple, or even alder would all work fine.
Another idea would be to find an old wooden water ski and cut your board blank out of the ski.
I found a couple of old skis at my local thrift store and am searching for some trucks myself.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with :)
 
if you want to do it the way they did back in the day......
get a piece of 3/4 maple and cut it into the shape you want then find a pair of old rollerskates(the clay wheel kind) cut them in half and bolt the remains of the 'trucks' onto your board
watch the movie dogtown and zboys(not to be confused with pereltas other movie lords of dogtown)...great history and they explain it better than me
 
good call on the waterski. Good quality wood or laminated, and you can score them at yardsales for short $. probably less than you would pay for a good clear (knot free) piece of hardwood.
 
i believe alot of old boards where made of ash, untill they started with the 7ply maple.

if ya wanna go real old school, find a set of those old metal clamp on roller stakes.
most of my really old boards (had a huge collection once upon a time) used the metal wheels/trucks from such skates.
2557201793_45dbc046a1.jpg

skate_board.jpg

later they started using the trucks you find bolted to actual rollerskates (same size/bolt pattern). this is when the clay followed by urathane wheels came into play.
IMG_3225.jpg

it wasn't till much later that they started with the larges skateboard trucks/ further spaced bolt pattern.
 
I believe we're on track with the clay wheels. the 60's is definately when they were fazing out the steel wheels.
AND, if you're gonna do the ol' "hey ya'll, watch this!" clay beats steel anyday..... ask an E.R. nurse :lol:
100_1619.jpg

100_1618.jpg
 
i really can't wait to make this board.... if i do a good job on this one i might even have to try my hand at the laminated style boards with the several different colours of hard wood in them.....thanks for the site feralkid i checked it out and they have exactly what i am lookin for in trucks and tires.....
 
I had one around 1965, same graphics as yours except it only had TWO feet and said "HANG TEN". It had steel roller skate wheels, board was a little smaller.................Never forgot it. We didn't know you were supposed to use it like transportation. We just had contest to see who could go down a particular LONG and steep hill. There were a lot of broken bones in the summer of 65 (some of them were mine).
 
just found this one while cruising through Google images.......
longboard.jpg

i wonder what the weight capacity is for this beast.....
 
Von Stans said:
i really can't wait to make this board.... if i do a good job on this one i might even have to try my hand at the laminated style boards with the several different colours of hard wood in them.....thanks for the site feralkid i checked it out and they have exactly what i am lookin for in trucks and tires.....
Click to expand...
cool im glad it worked for you although for wheels you could look up 3DM wheels made by seismic they have a wheel that was made specificaly for the lords of dogtown movie orrrrr you could look up cadallac wheels they were some of the first urethane wheels. But i do have to say that i have some of the wheels from GFH and they ride great.
 
Stonefish said:
My stuff is still stuffed in one of my buses.....I hope to get them out and displayed next week??

10724_1201372204910_1546726137_30534077_7058425_n.jpg
Click to expand...
got any cirlce a ricky windsor or justin girard decks in there? if so anything you want to trade for them? ive got a bunch o' old decks i could trade (only 80-early 90s though since everything after that was focused down to nothing when theyd crack)......
 

Latest posts

Back
Top