Experiment with Nature » skateboard

JOURNEYS 033 – HEARTLAND

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 15:25:22 +0000

“After you do something long enough it becomes a part of you. The way you interact with the world changes. Even walking down the sidewalk, I pay attention to the cracks. The spacing. The depth. How easy would it be to ride over this? I notice the texture of surfaces, take note of curb heights, and fantasize about hitting that handrail. I’ll scope out peoples feet to see what shoes they’re wearing. You can tell a lot by the wear patterns left on shoes by griptape. Goofy or regular? Kickflips or heelflips? If there’s wear on both shoes then they skate switch. Sweet. Not everyone can say they have something that has shaped their lives like this. Skateboarding has given us long lasting friendships, it has sent some of us all over the world, and it has taught us a thing or two about ourselves. It’s kept us young. As the late Jay Adams once said, “You don’t quit skating because you get old. You get old because you quit skating.” Skateboarding is our thing.”

– Excerpt from Will Corwin’s story about growing up, skateboarding, and find purpose in it all. Check out the full story HERE.

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Cruiser Skateboard Decks

Thu, 02 Jul 2015 20:32:18 +0000

After hand-shaping and raffling off a custom axe at last year’s Agenda Show Long Beach, we knew it was going to be difficult to come up with something even more impressive for this year’s show. In the process of brainstorming and talking over a few options and ideas, someone threw out the possibility of making something out of the same materials we use for our glasses. After making snowboards at the beginning of winter last year (check out that post HERE) skateboards seemed like a logical next step. The problem arose, however, that we wouldn’t be able to use power tools in the middle of a bustling tradeshow. So we set out to explore the possibility of making a few decks almost entirely with hand-tools.

To start the process, we selected material combinations from some of our most popular sunglasses options, and designed a few different shapes of decks. The plies were then cut to shape on the laser and arranged for pressing.

Each ply was coated with glue and arranged to be molded by the form above. Once arranged, the plies were placed against the form and inserted into this vacuum bag, which is operated by a small, quiet generator and vacuum pump.

After the plies are pressed and dried, the resulting planks are then cut to shape using a coping saw and ready for finishing.

After a good amount of sanding, once the edges were rounded and smooth, the deck was ready to have the holes drilled. Using the holes cut on the laser as guides, we created the hardware holes using this old-time styled hand-drill.

Once that was done a light coat of shellac was applied to protect and beautify the decks, and they are ready for assembly. See below for a few shots of the finished product!

Our founder, Eric Singer, will be hand-shaping another deck during the two days of Agenda Long Beach, and then we will be raffling one of the beauties off! If you are planning on attending stop by booth No. F35 to check out the process in person and enter for your chance to win!

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TREE RAIL

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:08:18 +0000

Three brothers find inspiration from a recent clear cut by their home in Vermont. Scavenging scrap wood to build a surprisingly skateable obstacle, they have a fun session in the backwoods of Manchester. Check out some more of their videos at: vimeo.com/user3333124

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