Build your own skate longboard

Editor’s Note: Spend some time with Pop and create something cool. “Handy Dad” by Todd Davis outlines 25 projects for fathers and sons to tackle together. (Chronicle Books, $24.95 softcover. All ages.) Click here to purchase.

Here’s an excerpt from the book’s Skate Longboard project. Read a preview below and click the bottom link for a PDF of the entire craft!

From pages 74 and 75 of “Handy Dad”:

Have you ever noticed how many roads there are in your neck of the woods? Everywhere you look, there are smooth, sloping asphalt waves—I mean, slopes—just waiting to be carved up. Get into a crouch or put your toes on the nose. Feel the flow as you—I mean, your kids—carve back and forth across the blacktop with the sun on their faces and the wind in their hair. Actually, let’s not kid ourselves. I have a feeling you’re going be “borrowing” this board to relive those early glory days of skateboarding yourself.

Materials:

• 4-foot 1×7 Brazilian Ipe wood (This sounds like an odd size but it’s actually a factory-cut measurement. Look for Ipe wood at your local specialty lumberyard.)
• 2 super-wide 10-inch skateboard trucks (I like Independent-brand trucks, myself.)
• One set of super-soft street wheels (Yup, they come 4 to a set.)
• Eight bearings built for speed
• 4 feet clear grip tape, 10 inches wide

Fasteners:

• 1 1/2-inch skateboard mounting hardware, for bolting the trucks to the deck

Tools:

• Measuring tape
• 4-foot level or straightedge
• Pencil
• Carpenter’s square
• Felt-tip pen
• Drill with 3/16-inch and 1/4 -inch bits
• Band saw or jigsaw with wood blade
• Electric sander with a few sheets of 60-grit sand paper
• Screwdriver
• Utility knife or pocketknife
• Socket wrench with 1/2-inch, 3/8-inch and 9/16-inch sockets

Click here for a PDF of the rest of the project!