Brackets on board

We carefully lifted the board and placed the finished skateboard underneath. This was covered in newspaper to protect it. The unfinished board was positioned on top of it. Small blocks of wood were cut out. The unfinished board was bracketed to the skateboard , to bend it to the shape of the original board. Some extra brackets were used to hold the layers of board together while it dried. The small blocks of wood were placed between the brackets and the unfinished board to protect the kauri. The board was left to dry.

Gluing layers

We applied resin to the first on three layers of Fijian kauri. It had to be completely and evenly covered by the resin. This was done by spreading it out with gloved hands, Then we lay down a sheet of fiberglass and pressed it into the resin. Another even coat of resin was applied over the fiberglass and a second layer of kauri was placed on top. This was repeated until the board was composed of three layers of kauri and two layers of fiberglass.

Mixing epoxy resin

Today we had a go at the beginning of the skateboard making process. We started by cutting out four 350mm by 1200mm on the bandsaw. We used Fijian Kauri, which is not a very sustainable wood (see research). We then mixed some Epoxy resin (5 parts resin and 1 part hardener), in the pictures above. We wore latex gloves and surgical masks to protect our skin and lungs from the toxic resin.