DIY Skateboard

Building your own skateboard at home using either prefabricated parts or from scratch can be a rewarding experience and can give the skateboarding enthusiast an increased level of control in the response and quality of his deck. Though it helps to have some knowledge of basic woodworking if you plan to build your own deck, putting together a skateboard from parts purchased at a local skate shop requires just a few essential tools and a clean and sturdy surface to work.

Things You'll Need

  • Deck
  • Grip tape
  • Utility knife
  • 2 Trucks
  • Bearing set
  • Wheels
  • Skate tool
  • Socket wrench
  • Allen wrench (optional)
  • 8 appropriate size nuts and bolts
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Instructions

    • 1

      Build or purchase a deck of your desired size and dimensions. Lay the deck flat on your working surface with the nose and the tail facing up.

    • 2

      Remove the backing from your grip tape and lay the sheet over the nose. Roll out slowly until the entire surface of the deck is covered from the nose to the tail. Smooth out any bubbles and make sure that the entire surface is covered.

    • 3

      Use your utility knife to trim off the excess grip tape around the edges of the deck until just the grip tape covering the deck itself is left intact.

    • 4

      Poke eight holes through your grip tape with the utility knife by pushing through the grip tape into the eight pre-drilled holes. Insert bolts into each of these holes and then slide the trucks down so that the bolts go through the matching holes on the trucks. The bearing and the kingpin of the truck should be facing towards the interior of the deck.

    • 5

      Tighten the trucks into place by screwing the nuts down onto the bolts. Tighten the nuts down with the skate tool. If the trucks did not come fully assembled, then you will have to also place the axle down over the kingpin and tighten the kingpin nut into place to lock down the trucks. Do not fully tighten the kingpin nut as you will want some play at this joint in the trucks to allow for maneuvering while riding the board later on.

    • 6

      Place one bearing inside of the wheel. Do not worry about aligning the bearing immediately. Instead, turn the wheel so the bearing is facing toward the interior of the deck. Slide the wheel and bearing onto the axle of one of the trucks and press the bearing into the wheel using the axle. Remove the wheel and turn it over. Insert a bearing into the other side of the wheel. Repeat this procedure for all four wheels and all eight bearings.

    • 7

      Bolt the wheels onto the trucks after all of the bearings are fitted into the wheels. Use your skate tool or a socket wrench to tighten down the nuts to hold the wheels in place. Test your skateboard to ensure that the tension on the kingpin is as desired and that the wheels spin independently and without impacting the trucks.