My dad has all the tools I would need so its just the cost to get the parts (which it says is around 250....but upwards to 300 bucks). I've got a buddy now who wants to go half in on it so I might actually go through with this...The cost will likely be higher because I want a long press (for making some huge cruising boards) but either way it would be a cheap yet educating summer project...
dont use your bulk standard wood glue use epoxy or go to a boat yard n ask em for some of the glue they use on deck (duno the name of the stuff but its super good) and go all out and do it in a press (make it big enough to do skis in aswell) and then your set on summer projects for life
Other then CNC'ing the molds....do you guys have any other advice on creating them? I wanna make a couple flat decks but mostly I wanna mess with concaves and whatnot
yeah that is really good advice, You can use two kinds of glue that work super good and will give your board more strength because they soak into the wood insted of just normal glue that stays on the surface. Even if you want a flex board you'll need this because if you use normal glue your board will crack. use Aerodux glue aircraft wood glue which dries pretty fast or you can use epoxy resin (find at a Boat supplier) which should take about 3 days to dry inless you mixed too much hardener in there. I would just use a simple press to start out with and I found a link on the lush longboards forum that should be very helpful
one more tip for ya, when your cutiing out the board, don't cut exactly on the line, maybe a cm or two off and then just sand around with a palm sander. Maybe you would of thought of that but I didn't want you to f-up your first board
my brother makes longboards... don't know too much about them except that he makes them super light by having the inside corrugated so theirs holes all the way down. doesn't make them any less strong. and he also uses an vacuum pump to hold it together when gluing. their really sick and nice to ride
On a side note, thanks for mentioning my site... DIYskate.com, I always appreciate a referral.
By the way, the cost of steel has risen, at least in Illinois, since I have written that article, so you may find the press to be a bit more expensive now.