I’ve seen some online info about epoxy resin pours with live edge wood, etc. for decks, but they don’t address if they function well or not. I like the look, but I want to ride the long board and not stare at it. Just curious if anyone has experience with a longboard deck primarily made from epoxy resin? I’m 220 pounds so tensile strength is a concern.
9 Likes
I believe it may have been discussed on the other original forum, possibly try searching for neversummer reaper… just a hunch but sorry if that doesn’t help >.<
1 Like
It depends on how much the epoxy saturates the wood, as well as the wood itself. Full saturation on old reclaimed wood to make old school style flat pintails, etc results in a lot of flex. If you’re using something hard and strong like maple you may get a different result.
5 Likes
Resin by itself is generally hard but brittle and has little tensile strength, so the flex from skateboard forces will likely snap if it isn’t reinforced with something like fiberglass.
5 Likes
also wood fibers are reasonably well organized… ish… but generally follow one direction and don’t create the necessary lattice for the kind of strength you would get with woven or matte fabrics.
and what @computers said. on its own its just hard plastic with no real give or take.
3 Likes
Yes I’ve wondered about this myself. I’ve also seen some decks made from plexiglass. Seems like that might have a decent amount of flex/shock absorption compared to resin. 
1 Like
thanks for the responses!
1 Like
clear plastic, sure. Penny’s abound. But plexiglass or lexan? That shit cracks on command. Definitely the wrong plastic.
3 Likes
The fully clear boards is one of my dreams. I would use clear cell wraps and everything basically all the electronics visible.
5 Likes
Working on one right now as my llc is called… Live Edge Electric 
pending state approval.
2 Likes
I’ve added an epoxy layer to both those decks. The build for the black one I haven’t finished yet…hopefully someday soon.
Overall, I think it adds a nice protective layer that looks good but you would certainly need a more solid core for a deck. The epoxy is hard but I highly doubt it could handle any significant weight on its own. The amount of flex depends on how much epoxy is added to the deck and the type of deck, but the epoxy is soft enough that it doesn’t seem to affect the stiffness in any significant way imo. I’m about 190lbs btw.
4 Likes
Real lexan is strong as fuck.
1 Like
For the unknowledgeable Lexan is a brand name for polycarbonate
4 Likes
Also shatterproof. There’s a reason they make bank windows with it.
2 Likes
The material tends to bend and bend and stretch instead of fracturing so it’s overall very safe and an obvious material to make a skateboard deck out of if engineered properly.
One way of working with it that I really like is heat forming. you can either heat in a line to make a bend or heat the sheet and vacuum form over a positive buck.
one serious problem with a material like this is takes an excruciating amount of time to break down in the environment. Ocean will have plenty for a long time.
ahem time for a skate
5 Likes
That’s why all things disposed should get on the fast track. Throw that shit in a volcano. Express lane.
1 Like
That would release tons of CO2 and be expensive as fuck because there are only a few active lava lakes on the planet.
3 Likes
Your over thinking it hombre.
2 Likes
Forests grow better with this. Mostly joking about co2
Is the goal to have a channel filled with colored epoxy like river tables? You could route a few millimeter deep channel from tail to nose on a really thick and stiff deck and pour epoxy in, I don’t think it would make any difference other than looks.
2 Likes