How to Customize Skateboard Decks
Skateboarding is a sport of individuality and it's important to have a deck that expresses your personal style. Generic boards can cost less than $30, but brand-name professional-endorsed decks can cost three times that. The cost of customizing a deck can vary just as widely but can also be done inexpensively with a few supplies and some creative vision.
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Instructions
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Use spray paint or an airbrush to individualize a plain deck or revamp a well-worn board. Devise a theme and apply paint free hand or use stencils. Make your own stencils at home by printing off words or logos, transferring them to heavy cardboard and cutting them out with a sharp knife.
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Apply stickers over a new paint job or to cover up an old one for an inexpensive way to customize a deck. Collect free stickers from local skate shops and events or request them over the internet from company Web sites. Add a few to highlight a certain brand or overlap for maximum impact.
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Visit a local discount or hardware store to view the selection of colored industrial tape, also known as duct tape. It's available in dozens of colors, including metallics, and comes in different widths. Cut and apply to the bottom of a deck to form patterns, shapes, words or anything you can imagine.
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Trim and position grip tape in a pattern or use a razor blade to cut designs from the sheet before applying. The sandpaper-like adhesive sheets are applied to the top of a deck, and provide a functional purpose by helping you control your board. It comes in hundreds of colors, including transparent, which allows the top of the deck to be viewable.
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Accent with trucks, bushings and wheels, all necessary hardware attached to a deck. Trucks come in different widths and heights for a custom feel. The stiffness of bushings affects a board's stability and is a personal choice based on the type of skating performed. Wheels are available in different sizes and hardness for performance and colors for style.
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Create a one-of-a-kind deck printed with personal pictures or artwork. Web sites such as Zazzle and BoardPusher take your original artwork and print it directly onto personally chosen decks. They offer a variety of board widths and shapes.
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Tips & Warnings
After painting or applying tape or stickers, roll on a coat of self-leveling polyurethane to protect. Use clear or have it tinted for a different effect.
Always use paint products in a well-ventilated area.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos:markus rodder, xcorex, fillmore photography, ichaz, miles gehm-Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0
