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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