making a skate

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For those of you out there who have not been into skateboarding that long or who are looking to get something for someone else listen up and I will tell you how to get them a good set up.

We will start with the deck. Boards range in size by width, length, wheel base, nose length and tail length. The main metric however is the width of the board. The most common widths you will find are 7.5” 7.75” and 8.0”. If you are to think of it like small medium and large you would be spot on. Smaller riders tend to go with smaller boards and larger riders tend to go with larger boards.

For a kid that is just starting out a smaller board would be the way to go. The wider the board the harder it is to flip it. So, start there for the little ones and let them grow into wider decks.

As for trucks, the only concern is to match the width of the deck. You can’t really go wrong with the brand as it is personal preference and a new rider will probably learn to like what ever they start with regardless of what they are. If in doubt go with Ventures.

On to wheels. Wheels are defined by their diameter and hardness. A good middle of the road diameter is 52-54 mm. For the hardness go with 98 to 101 durometer rating, if you don’t know the durometer rating don’t worry. Unless the wheels look like jelly you are ok. Oh, and do not buy dual durometer wheels! The salesman may try to sell you some cool new “technology” but do go for it.

That’s the skinny of it, if you have any questions let me know.

Technorati Tags: decks, trucks, what to buy, wheels

There has been some buzz around an online product “secrets of skateboarding” and I thought I would take a second to fill you in. I want to first say that Secrets of skateboarding is a real product that provides skateboarding trick tips.

What we have here is someone who took the time to address a lot of the main areas of skateboarding that people have questions about or want to learn. They go through how to ollie, kick flip, important steps to landing heel flips, and much more. This will help you learn how to skate fast.

The guide seeks to get a little deeper into how tricks are conducted. Rather then simply walking you how tricks are done in general they get into the details that are usually not addressed.

It is always good to get another persons perspective on how to ride so I would get a copy of secrets of skateboarding and learn those tricks that you just can’t figure out.

The other cool thing with this product is that they offer a complete money back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied. So what are you waiting for click the following link Click Here!

Technorati Tags: get good at skateboarding, learn skateboarding, learn to skate fast, secrets of skateboarding, trick tips

If you are shopping this holiday season and want to pick up something for the skateboarder in the family a new skateboarding video is a great way to go. You don’t have to worry about size, style, or color. Skateboarding videos are one size fits all.

What you should be aware of is whether or not they have the video you plan on getting them, and if it is a new skateboarding video or an old one. For the most part videos don’t go out of date but like anything else the newer it is the more hyped they will be.

To help you out I have found two videos that are new.

The first is Tony Hawk Trick Tips Volume 3 Skateboard Instructional Dvd. This would be great for a beginner or someone who just needs that extra bit of instruction. It features;
•Tony Hawk and Mike Vallely have an entire section dedicated to “old school” skating
•Bucky Lasek joins Hawk in giving away guarded secrets about vert skating
•For the advanced and daring, Tony explains how to do the elusive 900

The second video is not instructional but defiantly has some crazy riding. It is more suited for a more mature rider who knows what to appreciate when watching a video. Any one who has been riding for a few years or seems to think little of Tony hawk will appreciate this one.

Here is their write up on it: “5 Long years in the making, Flip finally has released Extremely Sorry. Everybody put it down for this video. Expect some raw, mind-bending skateboarding and incredible quality film making. Full parts from: Geoff Rowley, Mark Appleyard, David Gonzalez, Rodrigo Tx, Ali Boulala, Luan Oliveira, Bob Burnquist, Rune Glifberg, Tom Penny, Lance Mountain, and Shane Cross (RIP). Also featuring Louie Lopez, Curren Caples, Ben Nordberg, Willow, and more. The Flip team is consistently pushing skateboarding to new heights while keeping it core”

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For many years skateboard movies consisted only of promotional videos put out by companies featuring their team riders in an effort to sell more of there products. In the past few years I have noticed a rise in the number of movies centered on skateboarding that were not created for the promotional purposes. The most notable is Lords of Dogtown released in 2005. If you haven’t seen the movie, it is an account of the skate scene as it developed in Venice CA during the 1970s.

What I find interesting is that it wasn’t that long ago when the social acceptance of skateboarding was less then great and now you see it all over the media. What was the catalyst for such a change in perception? Don’t get me wrong I am glad the change is occurring but the thing is skateboarding has remained the same.

My opinion is that once people in the media decided there was room to make money with skateboarding and they found a way to market it (the X games) and the general public began to accept skateboarding more and more. Consequently skateboarding and all “extreme” sports began to become a little more commercial in the publics making them social acceptable.

What are your thoughts, have you been around long enough to see this dynamic take place?

Technorati Tags: skateboard movies

For those of you who want to get started building a skateboard ramp but don’t know where to start listen up. All you need is a few sheets of plywood, two by fours, and screws. Masonite is a great material for a riding surface but it isn’t technically needed.
The main idea regardless of the ramp is to use the plywood as templates on each side and the two by fours as cross brasses. The ply wood is cut to the shape that you want the ramp to take as if you were looking at it form the side, and the two by fours support the riding surface.
Check the photo.

That’s the main idea so get started and make any style skateboard ramp you choose. This technique works great for boxes as well

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A good skateboard is a product of a few variables. The main things to consider are;

• Materials
• Shape
• Process

Materials
The materials involved in making a skateboard are the wood and the glue. The wood should be maple, more specifically hard rock Canadian maple. If anything else is used you will not like what you get. This is the case with boards purchased at large retailers. To skimp on the cost they will use a weaker wood such as pine.
I have made a few boards in my day and I can tell you the wood is everything. I live in the northwest and pine being indigenous to the area I though why not see how well it works.  Well, it doesn’t.  The grain structure is such that I had huge cracks right away
The other main material is glue. I don’t know a ton about the different glue types so I’m not going to pretend that I do but know that there can be quality issues her as well.

Shape
Obviously this is left to the opinion of the rider but the shape can make or break a board. If you don’t know what you want just ask someone in a lagit store and they should help you out. Key variables are length, width, nose and tail shape and oddly enough the center distance between the trucks.

Process
There isn’t much to pressing decks other then laying them up and squishing the crap out of em. The big guys do this with automated presses but it can also be done with a vacuum press.

So, as long as you buy from a reputable source you should be ok but now you at least can sound like you know what you are talking about next time someone asks.

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1.    Pushing
While it may not seem like much of a trick, pushing is a vital skill required to become a great skateboarder. The first thing to do is to NOT push mongo. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it means you should be pushing with your back foot, NOT your front foot. The reason for this is people that push mongo (with their front foot) have a much longer set up time before a trick. If you are just starting to ride do yourself a favor and learn to push with your back foot.
2.    Tick Tack
Another seemingly not so important skill that is vital. Being able to tick tack familiarizes an individual with his/her board. It allows you to get the feel of everything while at the same time not jeopardizing your safety. This is also a great way to become more comfortable skating switch. When I first started skating switch I used to tick tack all the time just to build the muscle memory,

3.    Ollie
Often times this is viewed as the first trick one should learn but if you aren’t comfortable on your board first you are creating a steep learning curve for yourself. Once you are comfortable on your board the first thing you need to master is the ollie. This fundamental trick is the cornerstone to virtually all other maneuvers. Once you have a good ollie the world of skateboarding will open up for you.

4.    Shuvit
There are two main movements in skateboarding that dictate the way a board will move the first is the lifting action of the font foot that you will learn when you are learning to ollie, the second is the scooping action of the back foot when you are learning to do pop shuvits. A pop shuvit can be fully completed without the help of the front foot. From this trick 360 flips, varial flips, and who knows what else will be possable

5.    180 (One-eighty)
The fist few tricks on this list deal mainly with only the board, the last one incorporates the body. 180s are a great trick for big drops or just switching directions. Start learning them in either direction, either front side or back side which ever is more comfortable. Remember you body follows your head so if you are having trouble spinning make sure you are leading with your head.

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If you have been riding for any amount of time I’m sure your room is cluttered with skateboarding posters, broken decks, and other skateboarding paraphernalia. As skateboarders we are artists, there is no getting around that, so what have you done to make your environment “pop”?

I used to tear apart old skateboard magazines, match the over all photos roughly by color and make my wall into a mural of skate photos. Broken boards were placed along the top of the wall, each one with a storey.

I had a buddy who would take his old decks, sand and paint the bottom a solid color then but a saying or a bible verse on it.

So what about you, what skateboarding creations have you come up with?

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I just started skateboarding and I love Plan B. Gallant, Danny, Sheckler, and Collin are awesome skaters. And they have some cool boards. Anyone know of some good online skate shops? Thanks for the help.

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