Reshape boards?

[fried_egg]

Are there other people who like to modify their deck in case you can't find the right shape? so the width, length or shape in general?

I recently reduced an egg shape from 9" (quasi - go to hell) to an 8.75" I was wondering if others do this too.✌🏼

[Woodshop]

There are most definitely people who customise many things on their boards, other gear, clothes, shoes and the like.


I guess the most common thing I have done is make popsicles into punk points for a while, when I couldn't get any more Black Label Jason Adams punk point decks.

Then more recently I have also rounded off the point on quite a few shaped boards for other people who didn't want a point, which is rather ironic with my own history, but I agree those boards did actually skate better with a more rounded blunt nose than a pointy one.

Others shave the sides off, or even cut down completely done bigger boards into more fun cruiser shapes or similar.

Also reminds me we used to get a lot of used decks, just cut a little off the nose if it was not worn at all, shape the worn down tail into a stubby nose and reuse them as "fun boards" for kids when we did skate lessons.  Some of the kids liked them so much that we often ended up giving them the reshaped old boards when they didn't have a good one of their own too.


Some threads I know have shaped boards include the Cruiser thread, the Safe place for 7.75 boards and a couple of others, maybe shaped boards and something else threads too.

[goodatmeth]

I've recently cut the chris roberts 8.5 twin into an egg because the "tails" felt way too big for me. It's now around 8.25 at the bolts and has 6.5 tails.

[roba]

last year i won a "pool shape" deck that was basically a popsicle with a square tail and a long ass nose (like 7.25) that i hated because it was too long for me to have a consistent flick, i cut a bit of it off and made that shit round, left the tail square, felt much better 

before:


after:

[Ol Nick]

Here are some I’ve done recently (“Before” on left, “After” on right) Definitely worth playing around with them. Even if you don’t have power tools, a wood rasp and sandpaper will do it and calm down your brain for a little bit as a bonus. Don’t breathe the sawdust.

[Woodshop]

Some good ones there!

I will have to "fix" a couple of big old boards I had been meaning to change, but never got round to it.

Inspiration for making fun, you could say.

[thanksgiving]

im looking at reshaping some old decks into >7 inch cruisers. anyone have advice? is it worth sealing the raw wood on the edges after cutting it?

[Woodshop]

im looking at reshaping some old decks into >7 inch cruisers. anyone have advice? is it worth sealing the raw wood on the edges after cutting it?

Sealing it does help it to last longer but is not essential.

Think of a raw edged board out on a wet day and it will get soggy way more quickly than if it was sealed.


As to cutting anything down, if you are very precise about your boards, having one side a little more in or out than the other is going to mess with your head a lot, but if you have a template, or even something you can bolt on through the existing deck bolt holes, it will make it a lot easier to shape well.

Cutting it can be as simple as drawing a shape on the board, making sure it is even and then getting a jigsaw on to it and cut it out.

Routing the edge is easier to do with a machine, but you can use a rasp by hand, then grip offcuts to sand it to the final product.


Some people say it is much easier to cut with the bottom / graphic side facing up, others say it doesn't matter or prefer to cut on top of the board with the concave.

[biaherl]

About to make a wood trowel out of it for some diy mud fun

[layzieyez]

Expand Quote

im looking at reshaping some old decks into >7 inch cruisers. anyone have advice? is it worth sealing the raw wood on the edges after cutting it?

[close]

Sealing it does help it to last longer but is not essential.

Think of a raw edged board out on a wet day and it will get soggy way more quickly than if it was sealed.


As to cutting anything down, if you are very precise about your boards, having one side a little more in or out than the other is going to mess with your head a lot, but if you have a template, or even something you can bolt on through the existing deck bolt holes, it will make it a lot easier to shape well.

Cutting it can be as simple as drawing a shape on the board, making sure it is even and then getting a jigsaw on to it and cut it out.

Routing the edge is easier to do with a machine, but you can use a rasp by hand, then grip offcuts to sand it to the final product.


Some people say it is much easier to cut with the bottom / graphic side facing up, others say it doesn't matter or prefer to cut on top of the board with the concave.

Thanks for the tips. I just chopped a 9" popsicle that was 33" long into a loveseat shape using a deck for template.

I'm skating it misshapen and rough at the moment to see if the fingers of flat added from redrilling the wheelbase down to 14" affects my skating. So far so good.

[Woodshop]

Thanks for the tips. I just chopped a 9" popsicle that was 33" long into a loveseat shape using a deck for template.

I'm skating it misshapen and rough at the moment to see if the fingers of flat added from redrilling the wheelbase down to 14" affects my skating. So far so good.

Wow that is a big change down, if it was closer to 15" wheelbase.

At least it would have been easy enough to drill out, more so than a board with a medium wheelbase which is harder to drill too close to the other existing bolt holes.

Sure can be fun making something different to ride.

[layzieyez]

It was a 15" wb so easy half inch chop on nose and tail and still slightly bigger than the loveseat I was copying. Also, the woodshop is better than the crail wood so it looks like l'm chopping the rest of these in my stack (4 more).

[braksabbath]

Cut the nose down 7.25” to 7” on this long and full shop board and made a template from the Gonz sweatpants but sized down for 8.75. Could use more taper but the kicks are a hard area to cut around with a jigsaw so I’m stopping while I’m ahead. The last one I tried didn’t turn out too good.

[Woodshop]

On one hand you want to make something fun and skateable that works for you, but to reshape a new deck, if it doesn't turn out how you like it, then you are stuck with a problem.

I always liked to mess around with old boards that were pretty much done, or at least something I was not going to skate, before doing anything to them, so often if it did end up not so good, I wasn't feeling so bad about it.


Once you have something you know works, then you can really go to town on it though, reshaping any new boards into something you like more, especially with another board as a template to keep using.


Keen to see pics of that once done @layzieyez

[layzieyez]

It's kind of weird, but as terrible as this first rough cut loveseat looks, the more I want to skate it without any remorse. It feels good to care so little.

If I end making one look impeccable, I will definitely post it. It does make more sense to go through all the trouble of making it look good when you're done beating it to hell.

[skatebruh]

If your board has too much concave, just park your car on top of it.

[Woodshop]

If your board has too much concave, just park your car on top of it.

Yes, it definitely works.

At first I was a bit hesitant, so only used an older board just to feel it out, but now it is my go to if anything feels a bit too steep for my old ankles, especially the tails, so I have it pretty much sorted now for how long to park on it to get the desired result.  I have a Corolla so a small car with less weight is better than a truck or something bigger.


A couple of things to note:

Warm (or even hot after a decent drive) tyres really flatten the deck out a lot faster and only take a couple of minutes, whereas cold tyres are much more consistent for a couple of hours with a better end result.  I have left some boards overnight, but a couple of hours usually does it best at a moderate temperature - between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius here in AU.

I have only really done it with BBS wood, which does hold and mellow out nicely (compared to another woodshop who someone else I know tried and cracked the kicks on a couple of boards, as they were too stiff and just would not flatten - R7 construction) so choose your board and approach carefully.