Here is a question, can a deck be made with only fiberglass/resin? There are several decks that I have seen that uses layers of fiberglass. Why not just make the whole deck out of fiberglass?
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The kaly and trampa decks are full fibreglass with outer skins of carbon/innegra and basalt
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So there really is no reason it could not be done.
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Nope they are incredibly strong decks.
@eLDoska has just created one as well. Not entirely sure if it’s fully fibreglass or contains some sort of core tho
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I’ve seen decks made entirely of plexiglass
yes, it is fully synthetic (fiberglass + basalt)
like @glyphiks mentioned - there are several guys who makes fully synthetic decks.
but to make a synthetic deck is a bit more complicated than regular wooden.
and higher materials cost (and as result - higher deck price) and usually higher weight than wooden decks, makes synthetic decks a quite niche “premium” product
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your best bet is to buy an powell re-issue like this
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The Volokno deck/enclosure combo is pretty awesome. May have to give this combo a try. Are they ready for sale yet?
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damn thats a throwback. I remember my first skateboard was a powell golden dragon.
@fujio001, Because it’s heavy and expensive and you can get very good results and benefits by also using other materials as a core to minimise weight and cost while retaining part thickness / stiffness.
There are a ton of resources out there about different types of layup for a range of applications. Straight layups of just resin and cloth are possible but not the only way.
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In the world of composites, stiffness and strength come with thickness. See it like a beam. The more you can get your outer skins further apart, the stiffer it’ll get. If you use a light soft core material, with top and bottom fiber laminates, you’ll achieve the desired stiffness with much less overall weight (and cost) than what you’d get with only fibreglass/carbon.
Carbon in itself isn’t super stiff either. But it’s got some great stretch resistance, or tensile strength, which means that when used in a beam configuration with sufficient thickness, the overall composite material will be very stiff, light and strong.
Fiber is expensive, core is cheap.
Making a full fiber deck stiff enough would probably require lots of layers, and some sort of grooves or spines in the board, artificially increasing thickness and local beam effects without too much extra material. Concave would help too. Makes it a bit more complex to mold, and more expensive.
Like how the plastic penny boards are made. They’re not fully flat, they have those longitudinal ridges which give some sort of stiffness, even if the material is noodly soft. (also because they are super short and narrow, which mitigates the leverage and sponginess)
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Thanks for the advice. You could have the ends and edges be solid fiberglass which the middle of deck could have some kind of thin lightweight core. When combined with a concave should be stiff enough. May allow for just a bit of flex to make the overall riding experience and bit more comfortable.
When combined with a fiberglass enclosure, the stiffness should go up and make for a pretty rigid deck.
Sure, totally doable, it’s just a matter of cost. Which is why you can find things like that in some top end products, or in some DIY cases where passion and dedication trumps profitability concerns. Is it any better in the end? Hard to tell, very subjective.
Most production boards will stick to the proven core/skins model.
The flex patterns start to be available in some CAD software, so it might not require as many prototypes to get the right flex feeling than what was required in the past.
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I found a local company here in Honolulu, HI that is willing to take on a project like this. $2000 for a mold that I get to keep and about $50-60 per enclosure. As for the decks, the company said it would not be that difficult to make however they would need a design. The deck would require a mold as well and cost around $100 to manufacture. Anyone have CAD skills that is willing to help?
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I would be aiming for a design that is 40-42" long and about 11.5" wide. Would make a fun all purpose board.
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Umm… is that including materials and labour costs. For what volume. Having just made a diy composite deck (fg, Cf and aramid), I’d be checking someone’s math
No expensive materials like aramid or carbon fiber would be used.
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