Philip’s Phish
Happy Birthday Philip! To celebrate this event we built you a one of a kind “Longboard”. Skateboarding is obviously something you’ve done, but longboarding is a bit different. Longboarding is as much about finding a nice long hill to cruise down as it is about ownership and admiring a one of a kind board. They are also used in downhill and slalom racing. I promise you, this is a custom one of a kind made especially for you! This is not a trick board for bashing, grinding, or tearing up, but a cruiser meant for long smooth rides, carving hills, as well as transportation around your neighborhood. If taken care of, this board could last you many years. We hope you enjoy your board as much as we enjoyed making it for you. Please be safe riding!
I thought you might like to know a little more about this special board. Kennedy, Cole and I built this board for you from scratch. It is made from “veneering” 7 layers of Canadian maple. This is often used on skateboards, snowboards, skis, and wakeboards. Canadian maple is one of the finest materials for making bases. To build the base we glued the layers together and then vacuum pressed them to make the curvature of the board. The vacuumed kit we used is from a company named Roarockit. http://www.roarockit.com/
Veneering is a process of gluing thin layers of wood together. The reason you veneer is really two fold. One is to make a stronger more stable piece of wood. Wood changes with moisture in the air, so by taking layers and gluing them together and alternating the grain of the wood, you create a very strong and stable piece of wood. This why “ply-wood” is used in construction instead of solid wood. If you used a blank piece of solid wood, it would warp and twist with the moisture in the air. Next time you see a piece of “ply-wood”, look at the side and see how many layers it has glued together. The second reason to veneer is to conserve precious woods that would be too expensive to use throughout the entire board material and are more decorative. Much of the furniture in your house is veneered and I bet you did not notice.
The art on both sides of the board are two extra layers of wood that are glued to the base 7 layers, making a total of 9 layers of glued wood. These were made using a process called “marquetry”. Marquetry is a process of cutting different pieces of wood in unique shapes and then gluing them to a base surface, which in this case is your Canadian maple base. By doing this, you get the stability of the maple base and the beauty of the nicer looking woods. Marquetry is a very time consuming process and is what sets this board apart from all others! If you want to learn more about marquetry go to http://www.gtcreations.com/tutorial/index.html For your board we used the following wood: maple, cherry, mahogany, pear, and popular.
Top (“Philip”):
Main Wood = Mahogany
Outside Stripe = Cherry
White Stripe = Maple
Black Stripe = Popular
Philip = Popular
Philip Background = Pear
Philip Background Outline = Maple
Bottom (“Phish”)
Main Wood = Mahogany
Outside Stripe = Cherry
White Stripe = Maple
Black Stripe = Popular
Fish = Green Dyed Birdseye Maple
Fish Outline = Bleached Birdseye Maple
Fish Background = Quilted Maple
The finish applied to the board after the layers are all glued and dried is what is called an “Oil – Urethane”. The material we used is General Finish’s Arm-R-Seal Semi-Gloss http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=7259 This type of finish is very easy to apply as you simply wipe it on and let it dry. Your board has 4 coats which take 24 hours to dry. This finish is very strong and most important can be repaired. If after some boarding the board gets scuffed and scratched and dull on the top, all you have to do is sand lightly with “4x Steel Wool” or “320 Grit” sandpaper and wipe on a new coat of Oil-Urethane and presto it will look new! This of course is not something you would want to do yourself, but something good to know if you ever want to repair or refinish. We also applied a final coat of “Renaissance Wax” which helps protect the board even further from oils, water, and general use.
The “hardware” used on this board consists of your trucks, bearings, and wheels. Starting with your trucks, these are designed specifically for long boards and are made by a company named ExKate. What makes these trucks special for long boarding is they are designed to be more stable at high speeds. Normal skateboard trucks used on down hill rides can create what is known as wobble at higher speeds. Not something you want to happen! ExKate 201 torsion trucks are designed to prevent wobble. The red bushings on the trucks are designed for a rider weight of 0-150 lbs. You can get heavier bushings if you want to but this is a good set for your size. The wheel bearings are Bones Reds. These are some of the best skateboard bearings in that they are fast and durable. The wheels are 70mm longboard wheels made by ExKate. This type of wheel is a good combination of softness for smoother ride, larger size to go over cracks and small rocks that you find on roads, and durability. You can try a 76mm size and Kryptonics makes a good wheel so you can try different wheels if you want. Bottom line, the hardware on this board is some of the best you can find for longboarding. The supplier we used for the wheels and trucks is a company named SpinDog and can be found at http://www.spindog.net/.
Again , we really hope you enjoy your gift. Also know we think the world of you!
God Bless,
Aunt Kathy, Uncle Shannan, Kennedy, and Cole
