Making a Slalom Board
Moderator: Marion Karr
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Bob Slydell
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2005 9:07 pm
Making a Slalom Board
Ok I am thinking about making my own slalom deck and I have a few questions. Im planing on using 1/8 baltic birch since thats the best wood Iv heard of so far for building longboards, is this wood good for slalom too? If so how many layers would I need to use? Im planning on having camber for sure, is it wise to add concave also since it would allow you to "lock your feet in" in those tight turns? My length is going to be about 30-32in. since that seems to be a popular size. Also I weigh about 115lbs, how much camber would be good for me? Sorry for all the questions at once but your never going to learn unless you ask, and yes I have searched the forum for info before asking. Thanx for any replies!!
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Paul Howard
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2003 7:15 pm
- Location: Corvallis, Oregon. USA
Paul's 2-Cents on making your own slalom deck
Hey, I only have personal experience cutting down wood and wood/fiberglass longboards(cambered and non-cambered) to make slalom decks though I also have and ride Fiberflex's, Roe wood and foam cores as well as PocketPistol foam and wood cores and am currently sponsored by www.subsonicskateboards.com for slalom and am riding concave stiff wood and fiberglass decks with no camber. I'm definately not the fastest guy out there but my last 5 "big" races I qualified into the bottom or middle of the A bracket , I'm just a lucky B-bracket guy so take that for what it's worth.
Here's my recomendations:
Wood- Birch is good for absorbing vibration, that's why people don't use it to make musical instruments if they want it to have any volumne. I am also a bow maker, Birch is a good core material but a not as good outer ply material in a flexing energy storage device like a bow or a flexing slalom deck. This is why Insect and Roe use fiberglass and Carbon to do the work and Birch on the inside to dampen vibration. It does'nt have the RESISTANCE or ELASTICITY of other woods like Maple, Hickory or Elm. Maple veneer on the outer layers would be better than Birch and Elm then Hickory veneer would be better yet in terms of longevity of the feel of the deck. In a flexing device like a slalom deck or bow, the outer 15 percent of thickness does approxamately 80 percent of the work in both tension on the bottom of the deck and compression on the top of the deck.
Camber- Stick to 1/4" or LESS for now, the more camber you have, the more you will have to fight the deck to get it to turn well. Camber helps build more speed when pumping turns IF and ONLY IF it is tuned to your weight and wheelbase. Start low with a firm flex, I don't really know what to tell you about how many plies to use, that will depend on how thick your veneers are. The higher the camber is, the more finicky it becomes and the fewer courses your deck will be applicable to. Better yet, start out with NO camber and make it STIFF, it will handle easier and be much more consistent in how it handles with multiple wheelbases drilled in, it will be more suitable for more different courses and you'll get a better feel feel for other variables in slalom such as truck placement, truck tuning(tighteness and wedge riser angle), wheel hardness, etc. No camber will make your life a LOT simpler to start out. If the camber and flex aren't just right, they will likely work against you more than for you and your chance of getting it dialed the first time is pretty slim. It will still feel good on the open asphalt, but through the cones will be a completely different matter.
Concave-YES! if anything, put more in the front foot area and less or none in the back foot area if possible. Don't go overboard though.
Wheelwells-YES!!! good deep wheelwells means more wheel clearance, less riser pads needed and the result is a faster responding overall setup. Wheel wells plus concave is the best insurance against wheelbite(wheel bite slaloming often sucks worse than wheel bite in other kinds of skating).
Wheel bases- Drill wheel bases for 19" for tight slalom, and up to 22" or 23" for G/S and super G and whatever else suits you for inbetween on those General/Hybrid courses. For really tight T/S maybe go to 18" but I doubt you'll need it especiallly if you go with a stiff no-camber deck.
Size and Shape- I like 9" wide under my front foot for everything pretty much slalom-wise and probably 6.25 to 7" under my back foot. Shape it so you feel like your feet will have enough deck under them to do the job easily but don't go overboard or skimp. If you ride surf-stance, you will want the tail end of the deck to be narrow enough so that you can feel your heel and toes hang off the edges a little. Putting a wedge or kick under the back foot and "canting" it so it's incline is running in the direction of you foot(putting the kicktail on lopsided) will help. Check out other deck threads on deck forums dealing with kicktails on slalom decks.
Hopefully this isn't overwhelming, good luck-Paul
Here's my recomendations:
Wood- Birch is good for absorbing vibration, that's why people don't use it to make musical instruments if they want it to have any volumne. I am also a bow maker, Birch is a good core material but a not as good outer ply material in a flexing energy storage device like a bow or a flexing slalom deck. This is why Insect and Roe use fiberglass and Carbon to do the work and Birch on the inside to dampen vibration. It does'nt have the RESISTANCE or ELASTICITY of other woods like Maple, Hickory or Elm. Maple veneer on the outer layers would be better than Birch and Elm then Hickory veneer would be better yet in terms of longevity of the feel of the deck. In a flexing device like a slalom deck or bow, the outer 15 percent of thickness does approxamately 80 percent of the work in both tension on the bottom of the deck and compression on the top of the deck.
Camber- Stick to 1/4" or LESS for now, the more camber you have, the more you will have to fight the deck to get it to turn well. Camber helps build more speed when pumping turns IF and ONLY IF it is tuned to your weight and wheelbase. Start low with a firm flex, I don't really know what to tell you about how many plies to use, that will depend on how thick your veneers are. The higher the camber is, the more finicky it becomes and the fewer courses your deck will be applicable to. Better yet, start out with NO camber and make it STIFF, it will handle easier and be much more consistent in how it handles with multiple wheelbases drilled in, it will be more suitable for more different courses and you'll get a better feel feel for other variables in slalom such as truck placement, truck tuning(tighteness and wedge riser angle), wheel hardness, etc. No camber will make your life a LOT simpler to start out. If the camber and flex aren't just right, they will likely work against you more than for you and your chance of getting it dialed the first time is pretty slim. It will still feel good on the open asphalt, but through the cones will be a completely different matter.
Concave-YES! if anything, put more in the front foot area and less or none in the back foot area if possible. Don't go overboard though.
Wheelwells-YES!!! good deep wheelwells means more wheel clearance, less riser pads needed and the result is a faster responding overall setup. Wheel wells plus concave is the best insurance against wheelbite(wheel bite slaloming often sucks worse than wheel bite in other kinds of skating).
Wheel bases- Drill wheel bases for 19" for tight slalom, and up to 22" or 23" for G/S and super G and whatever else suits you for inbetween on those General/Hybrid courses. For really tight T/S maybe go to 18" but I doubt you'll need it especiallly if you go with a stiff no-camber deck.
Size and Shape- I like 9" wide under my front foot for everything pretty much slalom-wise and probably 6.25 to 7" under my back foot. Shape it so you feel like your feet will have enough deck under them to do the job easily but don't go overboard or skimp. If you ride surf-stance, you will want the tail end of the deck to be narrow enough so that you can feel your heel and toes hang off the edges a little. Putting a wedge or kick under the back foot and "canting" it so it's incline is running in the direction of you foot(putting the kicktail on lopsided) will help. Check out other deck threads on deck forums dealing with kicktails on slalom decks.
Hopefully this isn't overwhelming, good luck-Paul
I just dig slalom!
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Bob Slydell
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2005 9:07 pm