How skateboards are made

A skateboard deck is seven or eight thin sheets of maple glued crosswise and squeezed into a curve.

stations: 8
things upstream: 72
raw sources: 22
steps from the ground: 8

The short version

A skateboard deck is plywood: seven or eight thin maple veneers, each glued to the next with the grain set at right angles. The stack is pressed in a curved mold until the glue cures. The blank is then cut to shape, sanded and printed, and fitted with metal trucks and urethane wheels.

Peel the maple veneers

Maple logs are steamed and peeled into thin sheets, which are dried flat. Hard maple is chosen because it is tough and springy.

Goes in
Timber
Glue them crosswise

Each sheet is coated with glue and stacked with its grain at right angles to the sheets on both sides. Cross-graining makes plywood strong in every direction and resists warping.

Goes in
Adhesive
Press the concave shape

The glued stack goes between molds that bend in the concave dish and the curled nose and tail. Pressure holds it until the glue sets.
Saw the outline

The pressed blank is cut to the board shape, then the edges are rounded and the truck holes drilled.
Print the graphic

Art goes on the underside, and the top gets a coat of finish. Rough grip tape covers the riding surface.

Goes in
Ink
Cast the urethane wheels

Liquid polyurethane is poured into wheel molds. Harder grades roll more smoothly and last longer, while softer ones grip better and cost less.

Goes in
Polyurethane
Cast the trucks

Each truck is a hanger that holds the axle and a baseplate that bolts to the deck. They are joined by a kingpin, which lets the truck swivel when the rider leans.

Goes in
Aluminum Steel
Bolt on trucks and wheels

Bearings go into the wheels, and the wheels onto the axles. The trucks are bolted to the deck.

Goes in
Ball bearing

End of the lineSkateboard

Worth repeating

Skateboarding began in the late 1940s or early 1950s, when Californian surfers wanted something to do when the waves were flat.
Skateboard wheels range from around 48 mm to around 60 mm across.