Author Topic: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?  (Read 847 times)

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bob george

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How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« on: January 24, 2023, 11:20:33 PM »
Why is 7 the magic number? Are 6 genuinely too few and is 8 definitely too much. As a kid I remember getting a 9 ply board - it was the advertised selling point of the board. I don't recall the brand any more or anything about the board at all to be honest aside from this detail. I was hyped 'cause i was like, 'oh cool, this is a special, extra strong board, how radical' - but i wasn't snapping boards then and still am not really ever snapping boards.

I also remember those almost boards early on that were like 100 ply going across the board instead of stacked on top of each other. Never had one or saw one in the flesh.

Rambling at this point, but yeah, how bad could a 6 ply board be?  (or just whatever, anything tangentially related to this question/idea)
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Mean salto

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2023, 01:24:42 AM »
Are you from NSW? There was (maybe still is) a ship called decked out that had 9 plus boards. I can't remember if I ever had one or not tho. I did see someone's v ply (think that's what those vertical ply boards were called) zing into a flatbar and completely explode so that put me off ever getting one.
As far as 6 plys I recon it could work if it was like dsm or a more rigid type of board. Prob end up feeling about the same as a ps

cosmicgypsies

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2023, 03:13:19 AM »
Are you from NSW? There was (maybe still is) a ship called decked out that had 9 plus boards. I can't remember if I ever had one or not tho. I did see someone's v ply (think that's what those vertical ply boards were called) zing into a flatbar and completely explode so that put me off ever getting one.
As far as 6 plys I recon it could work if it was like dsm or a more rigid type of board. Prob end up feeling about the same as a ps

holy shit v ply, never seen someone mention that for years - the plies on those things looked fucking crazy

Sativa Lung

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2023, 03:54:50 AM »
Are you from NSW? There was (maybe still is) a ship called decked out that had 9 plus boards. I can't remember if I ever had one or not tho. I did see someone's v ply (think that's what those vertical ply boards were called) zing into a flatbar and completely explode so that put me off ever getting one.
As far as 6 plys I recon it could work if it was like dsm or a more rigid type of board. Prob end up feeling about the same as a ps

Believe it or not I actually have that very thing. I believe it's from girls woodshop or another Chinese woodshop rather than DSM, but it's a 6 ply epoxy glued with a fiber pop secret layer. It's also probably the fattest deck Ive ever skated. It flexes more than a PS deck but not as much as the flight deck I skated. It's been skated a decent bit and is starting to razor tail but it still has a nice little pop to it once you get thetiming down. It just sort of flings itself into the bottom of your feet but between the weird timing and its extreme mellowness I landed maybe 2% of my flip trick attempts. Last time I skated it I just did ollies over stuff and tried super gross front shuvs until I credit carded one and got a lovely half moon bruise on my public bone.

nosneb can fill you in on the backstory....it was apparently a team sample or something and somehow ended up in a cali shop where he found it...it made its way to a mutual friend and then to me. I'll pass it on to some other flat board enthusiast some day, probably soon.

switchfakie

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2023, 07:00:18 PM »
when i was younger, i had one of those santa cruz "everslick" boards with a plastic bottom.

it was basically a 6ply with a plastic 7th ply

i forcefully removed the 7th ply with pliers and a lot of patience (dont ask me why) and skated the remaining 6 play

the board was definitely lighter and didnt seem to have any issues compared to any regular old board

the pop was crisp asf

the only difference was when it died, i decided to focus it & it broke in half on my first stomp - which 7 plys usually dont do for me

Chavo

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2023, 10:18:47 PM »
7 is the magic number because more veneers require more glue, which makes the whole thing weigh more. You can get away with 6 (all maple) if you're light.

bob george

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2023, 11:05:29 PM »
well that's kind of what I'm thinking...i personally never snap boards (have snapped maybe 4 or 5) in my whole life. i know lots of other people that don't really break boards. instead of trying to shave more off trucks/titanium/hollow etc to make it lighter - why not just take a whole veneer off + plus glue that goes with that extra. every 7 manufactured boards you're getting an extra. i'm just surprised 6 ply isn't more of a thing, is it established that it actually wouldn't work? is 7 just a thing skateboarding is set in doing. Like, were they always 7 plys?
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Mean salto

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2023, 11:11:37 PM »
I guess one more issue might be it being an even number of plys. I think boards are stronger when the plys alternate between vertical and horizontal so with 6 you'd have to have a horizontal top or bottom ply or have two plys in the middle running in the same direction.
Also maybe this doesn't matter at all lol

Esquivel

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2023, 12:55:33 PM »
I guess one more issue might be it being an even number of plys. I think boards are stronger when the plys alternate between vertical and horizontal so with 6 you'd have to have a horizontal top or bottom ply or have two plys in the middle running in the same direction.
Also maybe this doesn't matter at all lol

I sometimes work with composites (CF, but I am sure wood works similarly) and for better overall strength you would definitely want the fibres of the outer plies to be running along the length of the deck. This would provide better stiffness and also prevent stress concentrations. In a microscale, the vertical to the board's length fibres would create peaks and valleys and would generally be easier to separate from each other when the board flexes and the underside layer acts like a pivot to break the ply above. I hope I make sense, English is not my forte.
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S.

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2023, 01:25:38 PM »
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I guess one more issue might be it being an even number of plys. I think boards are stronger when the plys alternate between vertical and horizontal so with 6 you'd have to have a horizontal top or bottom ply or have two plys in the middle running in the same direction.
Also maybe this doesn't matter at all lol
[close]

I sometimes work with composites (CF, but I am sure wood works similarly) and for better overall strength you would definitely want the fibres of the outer plies to be running along the length of the deck. This would provide better stiffness and also prevent stress concentrations. In a microscale, the vertical to the board's length fibres would create peaks and valleys and would generally be easier to separate from each other when the board flexes and the underside layer acts like a pivot to break the ply above. I hope I make sense, English is not my forte.

Interesting!

I have heard that an uneven number ist best because then the middle of the board would be a layer of wood instead of glue, which would make it stronger. In the early 2000s some companies had power ply decks which had a 5ply construction with one very thick ply as the core. They were very heavy and broke rather quickly.


bob george

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2023, 02:01:23 PM »
Thanks guys. So it kind of needs to be 5,7 or 9? 5 is just too little, 9 is too much and 6 would be structurally unsound due to to outer plies running in opposite directions - is that roughly correct-ish?
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Esquivel

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2023, 02:37:29 PM »
^ I am not a skateboard manufacturer, but I would say this is correct as it makes sense. Remember the Blind (?) 9 lives decks? Never seen one in real life. As an older and heavy-ish skater, I would not mind a thick and stiff board, as long as it does not feel waterlogged.
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YMCMB

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2023, 03:13:09 PM »
Didn't cliche pioneer V-Ply?
Daclin is doing some for Into The Wild
http://www.instagram.com/p/CnJ-3phMfwG/?hl=en

Lou Strux

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2023, 03:24:04 PM »
7 plies because: 3 vertical grain plies (1, 4 & 7) & 4 X grain (45 degree) plies (2, 3, 5 & 6).
This tends to be the optimal weight/strength compromise with maple. The Prof. said some shit like that in a video once. Google it, son.
Furthermore, consumers expect to see that “7 plies of North American maple” tag these days.

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BurgerCop

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2023, 05:50:52 AM »
when i was younger, i had one of those santa cruz "everslick" boards with a plastic bottom.

it was basically a 6ply with a plastic 7th ply

i forcefully removed the 7th ply with pliers and a lot of patience (dont ask me why) and skated the remaining 6 play

the board was definitely lighter and didnt seem to have any issues compared to any regular old board

the pop was crisp asf

the only difference was when it died, i decided to focus it & it broke in half on my first stomp - which 7 plys usually dont do for me

I'm trying out a VX Everslick right now, first Santa Cruz I've ever skated and first deck with any special features I've skated since the OG slick decks of the mid-90s'. It's technically 5 ply of wood and 2 ply of some kind of carbon fiber.
I was a little pissed when I got to the register with it because I didn't realize how expensive it was going to be but I said fuck it and bought it anyways.
Luckily, I actually really, really like it so far. As you said it's super light and crispy as fuck. Slides really nice too after getting it broken in a little. I've only been skating it about 2 weeks but there's a chance I'll buy another one.


Mean salto

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #15 on: February 01, 2023, 08:45:15 AM »
Didn't cliche pioneer V-Ply?
Daclin is doing some for Into The Wild
http://www.instagram.com/p/CnJ-3phMfwG/?hl=en
Is that the top or bottom of the board? I remember it being just dwindle boards in general in the early 00s but I guess it was from the early 90s or earlier

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf_NMp-MlZf/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Chavo

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #16 on: February 03, 2023, 10:33:21 PM »
I guess one more issue might be it being an even number of plys. I think boards are stronger when the plys alternate between vertical and horizontal so with 6 you'd have to have a horizontal top or bottom ply or have two plys in the middle running in the same direction.
Also maybe this doesn't matter at all lol

Dogtown decks, during the mid 80s, used the 2nd from top as the cross-ply. It wasn't particularly weaker (for that reason).

I think ABC Board Supply also made a 6 ply that was popular during the early 2000s.

WorldsbestWeedsm0ker

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #17 on: February 04, 2023, 08:25:47 AM »
when i was younger, i had one of those santa cruz "everslick" boards with a plastic bottom.

it was basically a 6ply with a plastic 7th ply

i forcefully removed the 7th ply with pliers and a lot of patience (dont ask me why) and skated the remaining 6 play

the board was definitely lighter and didnt seem to have any issues compared to any regular old board

the pop was crisp asf

the only difference was when it died, i decided to focus it & it broke in half on my first stomp - which 7 plys usually dont do for me
I j had a Santa Cruz ever slick Kevin braun “semetrical” board recently and it wasent as heavy as I thought - was a great board actually only down side is it gets really floppy toward the end but lasted like 2 months longer than average board for me.
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KGB

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Re: How inferior could a 6 ply board be?
« Reply #18 on: February 17, 2023, 08:37:34 AM »
Exactly one ply inferior.


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