How to Make a Skimboard

Use a piece of plywood and a few power tools to make a quick and easy skimboard.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Swimsuits
• Skimboards
• Wet Suits
• Belt Sanders
• Lacquer

1. Borrow a skimboard from friend or go to a shop and look at skimboard shapes. If you can, bring in a big piece of paper and trace a board, or at least write down the dimensions. This will be your template.
2. Get a piece of plywood big enough to accommodate your template. The higher quality the wood, the better your board will turn out.
3. Trace your template onto the plywood.
4. Use a skillsaw to cut out the template. If you don't have a circular saw or access to one, your local hardware/lumber store is often willing to do the cutting for you, especially if you buy the wood from them.
5. Apply a router to the edges of the board. The more you can round it off, the better.
6. Sand the entire board on both sides. This is very important. Make sure it's very smooth.
7. Treat the board to a heavy waterproofing lacquer.
8. Sand and lacquer again. Repeat until you feel the board is finished. Three coats will usually be good enough.
9. Test the board by shoving it onto wet sand and seeing if it slides.

Tips & Warnings

• You can stain or paint the board before you lacquer it to give it some extra style. Put an extra-heavy first coat of lacquer over your dried paint or stain job so you don't lose it when you re-sand.
• This board will not function as well as a store-bought board.
• If you have a belt sander, sand the bottom of the board away around the edges, especially at the nose and tail of the board. This gives its shape some rocker.
• You can also sand the middle of the top away to make it a little concave.
• Be careful using power tools. If you're not sure about using them, ask for some help.
• Sand the board completely or you'll end up with a nasty splinter.