BEGINNING

After months and months of research I began this project in mid September of 2018. I had so many questions, so many variables to consider, so many materials to take into consideration in regards purely to the construction of the board on top of trying to finance the project and keeping on top of my 18 credit fall semester for my senior year of college. I felt so strong about this project from the very beginning. I was tired of labeling myself as an interdisciplinary designer with work that was purely school oriented. I wanted to apply my knowledge that I’ve gained in college of industrial, product, and graphic design, to a new self directed project that expresses all of my interests and showcases my skills. This project has been the most expensive and time consuming designs that I’ve made so far in my career as an Industrial Designer.

The original intentions for this project was to create an all terrain electric long board that is compact, lightweight, and has a long lasting battery life. The additional challenge that I gave myself was to provide a stable design to the board that could support it at high speeds between 25 and 30 mph. One of the important takeaways from this project was realizing the difference between a “looks like” and a “works like” design, given the amount of time I had on my hands to create something during the school year. It was important for me to realize the opportunity to showcase my design skills and gain new ones in this project, but it was more important that I didn’t spend too much time on one project during the school year when I’m trying to maximize my industrial design portfolio. It was for this reason my design had to be thoughtfully planned and executed to a tee.

MATERIALS

There were lots of different materials used to cultivate the board, some of which I didn’t actually need and made a mistake purchasing which not only furthered the project’s timeline but set me back in finance as well.

4 1/8” Veneers of Baltic Birch

Wood Putty

Lacquer

Water Resistant Wood Glue

Clamps

1/2” PVC Pipe

Spray paint

Grip Tape

Counter Sync

TOOLS

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to use my University’s wood shop in the Architecture building, as most of the tools I needed to use were already there. The only power tool I wound up needing to buy was a Dremel tool.

Dremel

Orbital Sander

Drill Press

Table Saw

Belt Sander

Band Saw

Power Drill

Circular Saw

ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

All of the electrical components were bought from Mboards.com, a supplier of DIY electric skateboard parts.

90mm Hub Motor with Polyurethane Sleeves

ABS Plastic Enclosure

Dual Hub Motor ESC

Wireless Remote (ESC Remote V6)

10s3p Battery Solution

Power Cord

AC Adapter

CHOOSING WOOD

I chose to go with eighth inch baltic birch veneer and layering them 4 times to make a sturdy board. I ordered 4 sheets off Amazon for $85.74 that measured 24” x 48” so I had some extra wood left over in case I made a mistake. Alternatively, you could use hardwood maple or bamboo, but stay away from softwood (or you could just buy a board online, but what’s the fun in that?). Ideally, you’re looking for something with a bit of flex that can withstand some hard blows and wont break under your weight.

DRAFTING a shape and MODIFYING A TEMPLATE

I spent time drafting the kind of shape that I was looking to make the board into, using trace to experiment with ideas, and then moving them to digital form using adobe illustrator. I then printed and cut the template I made out and traced the shape of the paper onto the baltic birch veneer.

CUTTING YOUR VENEER

I used a table saw to cut the initial planks of wood out cutting them about 12” wide by 48” long and then taking them to the circular saw to get the length down to 42”.

GLUEING YOUR VENEER

Glueing is the one part you REALLY DO NOT want to get wrong in this project. It needs to be done fast so that the glue doesn’t dry out but you can still make the edges flush. What I recommend is to grab a friend who can pour the glue on the wood and then using a paint roller to lather out the wood glue on each layer while they get the next layer to be placed on top of the one you just put the glue on.

PRESSING

I chose to make my own plywood for this project as I was determined to make my own board rather than buy one. I used clamps on the edges of the wood to hold it together on the outside and placed a couple of cinder blocks on inside to weigh the middle down. I left the board sitting for 24 hours and came back to find it completely fastened together.

CUTTING THE BOARD OUT

Since the shape I chose was heavily curved and had a few angles that were hard to reach I switched between a few machines to get the job done. I used a band saw to cut the initial outer shape aside from the two dips on either side of the middle, then moved to a belt sander to match the edges with the drafting lines I made on the wood. I then used a jigsaw to get the middle dips out after clamping the board down to the edge of the table and used a Dremel to round out the curves on the edges.

ROUNDING THE EDGES OF THE BOARD

I did some research online and found that a really good way to get the natural shape of a curved edge on the board was to use 3/4” wide PVC pipe so that its just enough to fit around the edge of the board and give it a curve. I cut the PVC into a small piece and then in half and placed sand paper inside brushing it up and down the edges of the board until i was satisfied with the result. (For the curves on the edges of the dips in the middle of the board, I used an elbow piece so I could get the sandpaper closer to the edge).

MAKING WHEEL BITE Divots

Using the lines I made to wireframe the board and the truck and wheel placement, I used an orbital sander with a fine grit and pressed down on the edges where the wheels would hit the bottom of the board. I sanded it down about halfway through the board to give enough room where I wasn’t worried about my wheel catching the board on sharp turns.

Creating my stencil and applying the graphic

For the stencil, I used some of my logo cutouts that I made for my logo press project and cut out a strip that I placed within a masked shape of the board. I used this as a guard to shield the rest of the board from the CMYK themed spray and the laser cut logo as a decal to apply the graphic. I used three coats, waiting 10 minutes in between to apply the next.

Applying lacquer coating

After applying the spray paint to the bottom of the board, I let it dry for two hours and then applied 4 coats of crystal clear lacquer to protect the graphics, waiting 30 minutes in between each layer for it to dry. I applied lacquer to both the bottom and edges of the board.

DRILLING THE TRUCK AND PLASTIC ENCLOSURE HOLES

Using the guidelines I drew in the beginning on the board, I placed each of the trucks centered with the middle of the board and took a small drill bit to outline where the holes were going to be on the bottom of the board. After drilling all the way through, I used a counter sync bit attached to a drill press to get the screws to fasten the trucks flush with the deck.

SANDING AND APPLYING THE GRIP TAPE

I used an orbital sander to sand the top of the board as smooth as possible and then applied the MOB Grip tape over the screw holes. I used a flathead screwdriver to crease the edges of the grip tape against the deck and then cut against the edge of the board with a box cutter to remove the excess grip tape. I used MOB grip tape for this board as I intended it to be on and off road and MOB makes really strong grip tape. However, if your grip tape is too strong, you can always sand it down.

PAIRING THE WIRELESS REMOTE TO THE DUAL HUB MOtor esc

An esc is required for the board to be able to move when you press accelerate on the remote. Most of the time it should come paired but it wasn’t for me. I needed to press the power button and take a pin to press the reset button in a tiny hole on the bottom of the remote.

DRILLING HOLES IN THE ABS PLASTIC ENCLOSURE

It’s really important to work your way up in drill bit sizes when drilling through plastic especially in the shape that the enclosure is in as it can crack incredibly easily, so ideally you want to go in slow and small and gradually increase sizes after each pass. There should be one hole on either side of the deeper end of the enclosure, one on one side for power and one on the other for the ac adapter to charge your board. On the very back of the deep end of the enclosure should be two holes in the middle about 1 and a half to two inches apart to connect the back wheels with the motors inside of them to the esc.