Posted: Sun May 25, 2003 12:10 am
I thought I'd pass along a little trade secret. Anyone who has ever wondered just what goes into making a foam-core glass skateboard might find this interesting:
http://www.fiberlay.com
It's a retailer that supplies EVERYTHING for the glasser with dreams of greatness. If you want, you can buy graphite, Kevlar and fiberglas cloth by the roll, various thicknesses of foam and of course, all your resins and adhesives.
From what I found and a little rough calculation, it looks to me like most board makers are spending about 35% of their price on materials. (Sheets of 1/2 or 3/4" foam ain't cheap! And it looks like you can gets two decks from each sheet at 24" x 42".) Coupled with labor time and a reasonable markup for profit, I'd say what we're paying for top of the line decks is reasonable. I must say, though, that Chicken's incorporation of maple ply into his boards adds a curve that I can't quite calculate.
http://www.fiberlay.com
It's a retailer that supplies EVERYTHING for the glasser with dreams of greatness. If you want, you can buy graphite, Kevlar and fiberglas cloth by the roll, various thicknesses of foam and of course, all your resins and adhesives.
From what I found and a little rough calculation, it looks to me like most board makers are spending about 35% of their price on materials. (Sheets of 1/2 or 3/4" foam ain't cheap! And it looks like you can gets two decks from each sheet at 24" x 42".) Coupled with labor time and a reasonable markup for profit, I'd say what we're paying for top of the line decks is reasonable. I must say, though, that Chicken's incorporation of maple ply into his boards adds a curve that I can't quite calculate.