ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIGH-QUALITY SKATEBOARD DECKS

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dannydibbert
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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIGH-QUALITY SKATEBOARD DECKS

Post by dannydibbert »

In order to choose the best skateboard, knowing the criteria that make up a high-quality skateboard deck is one of the most crucial things. Since the Invention of skateboarding in the 1950s and throughout several stages of development, this sport has made its way to become one of several popular sports among the youth.

During that development process, the technologies used in manufacturing skateboards have considerable development as well. For instance, decks were initially made of a solely solid wooden board attached to the trucks to enable the moving ability. However, skateboard decks are now made of several layers and wood is pressed together.

In today’s post, I will show you some criteria that are the signs of a good skateboard deck. Moreover, you may find some interesting sections about the manufacturing procedure of professional skateboards and how to expand their lifespan. However, I won’t discuss these topics in detail but you can read more about them at a famous skateboarding website called SkateAdvisors, address details of skateadvisors: 902 Avenue C, Brooklyn, NY 11218, United States.

WHAT KIND OF WOOD IS USED FOR MANUFACTURING DECKS?

Probably, the most famous type of wood is Canadian maple (also known as hard rock maple) which mainly comes from the Great Lakes area in North America. However, a typical maple tree takes several years before it is ready to be harvested but the quality is much better and it gives out denser wood.

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Maple which is planted in a cold climate like in the Great Lakes always has tight growth rings which indicate higher density and stronger wood. Besides this popular Canadian maple, other materials such as bamboo, birchwood, or plywood are also used. However, they are not as popular and good as maple decks.

WHAT SUBSTANCE IS USED TO COMBINE THE LAYERS?

Since skateboard decks have to take a lot of impacts, the adhesive used in this process must have high adhesion to hold the parts together for a while, resiliency, and waterproofness. While there are several options such as Multibond Sk8 Adhesive, Titebond II, or PC-2365, manufacturers prefer to use a non-toxic water-based adhesive called PVA (polyvinyl assembly adhesive) for popular products.

You can still come across some decks glued by applying Multibond or PC-2365 but these models are often produced for professional skaters and the number of these high-quality products is small.

MATERIALS AND LAYUP OF A HIGH-QUALITY SKATEBOARD DECK

Although you can find hundreds of models on the market depending on shapes, size, graphics, or colors, all skateboard decks are constructed in the same way. Typically, a good deck consists of 7 to 9 layers which are also known as veneers. However, I won’t discuss the manufacturing process in this thread but you can always learn how skateboards are made at other interesting threads at SkateAdvisors. If you're looking for more skateboarding articles, follow skateadvisors author Robert Parker!

In order to thoroughly understand these layers of the deck, I would like to give you a brief explanation of the factors that give you deck strength. Firstly, the strength and rigidity of wood come from the cells (also known as fibers) which support the structure of the tree.

The fibers usually grow longitudinally; therefore, it’s much harder to split a log in the perpendicular direction from these fibers. Hence, skaters need to seek a specific veneer orientation to have the best strength of the deck.

Approximately, each veneer is 1.6mm thick and two adjacent layers must be cross-laminated (the veneer orientation is perpendicular to each other). Other than the layers in the middle, there are two special layers used for the top and bottom of the deck. These outer layers are specially manufactured to withstand the impact of the environment and exposure to heat, humidity, etc.

If you go deeper into the structure of a typical 7-layer deck, you can see the documents and requirements for these layers namely the face sheet, core sheet, crossband sheet. To find out more about this topic, all the requirements and the gluing procedure of skateboard decks are available at SkateAdvisors.

Strength for skateboard decks is not enough so manufacturers must find an optimal way to keep their flexibility. Since skaters need a deck that is both stiff and flexible, skateboarding companies have applied so many high-end techniques in attaching the layers. You can easily see that getting all the layers with the same direction of veneer will result in a weaker deck; therefore, they are more likely to be broken.

CONCLUSION

It is not easy for newbies to choose the perfect deck, especially when they hardly know about the construction as well as their properties. Hopefully, with all the information I provided in today’s article, all skateboarders can clearly understand the structures of their skateboard decks. Consequently, they will be able to point out the sign of a decent deck at a glance or just by holding the board and doing some observations.
Last edited by dannydibbert on Fri Jul 22, 2022 7:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
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sunrat
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Re: Recommendation for MIDI Arpeggiator

Post by sunrat »

Qmidiarp - http://qmidiarp.sourceforge.net/
It is probably available in your distro repo.
There is also Librearp - https://librearp.gitlab.io/ I haven't tried that one myself though.
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LAM
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Re: Recommendation for MIDI Arpeggiator

Post by LAM »

I would add mod-arpeggiator-lv2 to the suggestions.

No GUI, simple but with all the essential features.

in mix, nobody can hear your screen

gimmeapill
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Re: Recommendation for MIDI Arpeggiator

Post by gimmeapill »

Proprietary, but once set to loop mode the Renoise/Redux Phrases makes a very nice arpeggiator (midi controllable, harmonizing, presets, etc..)
https://tutorials.renoise.com/wiki/Phrase_Editor

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