Unit 2 - Sanding of Skateboard Deck

Although one typically thinks of the elements and principles of design in a painting or drawing, they can be applied to anything. The process of assembling and sanding our skateboards used the elements of shape, line, form, and texture, and the principle of balance. The skateboard started as seven planks of wood. A layer of glue was applied and then the next plank was placed on top. The process was repeated until every plank was glued together. Then the board was placed on top of a piece of Styrofoam to shape it, and then placed in a vacuum bag. The air was removed from the bag by a pump, and the boards were left to cure overnight. After the board was ready, the sides were evened out with a carving tool. The sides were shaped to give them a curve and create an even line surrounding the board. After this was finished, the top and the sides of the board were sanded with 60-grade sandpaper. The wood was slowly smoothed out until it reached 400-grade and a smooth, glass-like texture was achieved. At the end of the process, the board achieved a unified form that looked like a professionally made skateboard. One dificulty that arose during the process was that sanding for long periods of time could be both boring and tiring. An issue that arose was when I used a wet paper towel to remove sawdust. The water caused my board to become rough, and I had to sand the deck with 400-grade sandpaper again. One useful technique I discovered was that it was more effective to sand a small area repeatedly than to sand a large area. This helped me progress through different grades of sandpaper faster. I feel that I achieved a very smooth surface on my board because of the way the board looked and felt against my hand.