How to Silkscreen a Skateboard

Silk screen printing uses a stencil with a sheer fabric that has been marked off with a nonpermeable substance to ensure ink can only pass through the stencil in a specific design. Screen printing on a skateboard carries some unique challenges due to the curve of the underside of the deck as well as the difficulty of keeping the board steady with its curved edges as a base. To properly silk screen on a deck, you must use a rig designed to hold the board steady during the printing.

Things You'll Need

  • Wood plank
  • Tape measure
  • Saw
  • Wood blocks
  • Wood glue
  • Wood clamps
  • Drill
  • Bolts
  • Nuts
  • Socket wrench
  • Hinge with clamping edge
  • Screws
  • Silk screen stencil
  • Silk screening ink
  • Squeegee
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Instructions

  1. Building the Rig

    • 1

      Cut a plank of wood as long as the screen frame.

    • 2

      Cut two blocks of wood slightly thicker than the bend in each side of the deck, so when the deck is rested atop the pieces, the ends don't touch the ground.

    • 3

      Position the blocks on the plank so each block rests under one set of truck holes and the two are centered along the length of the plank. Glue and clamp the blocks to the plank.

    • 4

      Remove the clamps and place the deck atop the blocks once the blocks are dried. Mark on the blocks through each truck hole, and drill through each mark with a bore equal to the diameter of your bolts.

    • 5

      Drill a countersink on the underside of the plank that is slightly deeper than the thickness of the bolt for each drilled hole using a bit with a diameter slightly larger than the bolt heads. This will prevent the bolts from extending out the bottom of the plank.

    • 6

      Drill a countersink on the top of the blocks for each drilled hole using a bit with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the nuts and slightly deeper than the nuts. This will prevent the nuts from extending above the blocks and damaging the deck.

    • 7

      Secure a bolt through each hole that is long enough to extend through the plank and out the blocks far enough to secure the deck, but not so long that it extends beyond the bottom of the deck.

    • 8

      Cut two blocks of wood 1/8 inch thicker than the combined thickness of the blocks with bolts through them and the thickness of the deck.

    • 9

      Secure one block at either end of the plank with glue and wood clamps.

    • 10

      Screw a hinge to the top of one of the blocks, so the end with a clamp faces toward the other blocks. The frame will be secured in the clamp, with the far end resting on the second block when in use.

    Screening

    • 11

      Place the deck into the rig with the bottom of the deck facing up and the holes for the trucks over the exposed bolts.

    • 12

      Insert the screen into the hinge and secure firmly with the clamp.

    • 13

      Lower the screen down so it is over the deck, and pour 1 cup of ink onto the screen near the edge secured at the hinge.

    • 14

      Pull the ink over the design in the screen using the squeegee, pressing down with firm pressure and making more than one pass to ensure the screen is pressed down along the entire arc of the deck.

    • 15

      Lift the screen off the deck and remove the screen, leaving the deck in the rig to dry.