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Nicks Berger Board Part II

The first step of making the Berger Board is to fabricate the two (2) torsion boxes needed for the bent laminated glue up. I made my torsion boxes from plywood and pine.

All torsion boxed up and nowhere to go.

The type of plywood isn’t really important. I bought the 2’ x 4’ ¾” & ½” “sanded” plywood from Lowes. What is important is that the plywood is flat. Take your time and select the flattest sheets they have.

I used clear pine for the ribs. Again, be careful to choose the flattest and truest boards you can.

Its important that the ribs are milled flat and the boxes are assembled on a flat surface.

After milling the boards to 4S I trimmed the plywood to size. Then I assembled to two (2) torsion boxes using my table saw as a flat reference surface.

I then took additional pieces of the pine which I had also milled square and added a fence and riser block to the bottom (larger) torsion box. These will provide a surface to clamp against and create the lift in the tail needed for the proper Berger Board glue up.

Ready for the fence and riser.

The final steps of the Torsion Box construction allowed for an easier glue up. I covered the inside faces with packing tape in order to prevent glue stick. Then I added feet to the bottom torsion box in order to allow the clamps to fit below.

As silly as it may sound, I find building torsion boxes fun, as there is something satisfying about the rigidity of one which is properly constructed.

Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

Nicks Berger Board Part II

Nicks Berger Board Part I

Back in August of 2014 Matt Berger was a guest on the Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We were interviewing him in relation to his book, The HandmadeSkateboard: Design & Build a Custom Longboard, Cruiser, or Street Deck fromScratch. Though I wasn’t able to speak with Matt on the Podcast, I read the book and – though I’ve never skated – I fell in love with the idea of making a skateboard.

The great graphic Matt made to share our interview with him on his site.

When my cousin, Nick – a skater and skateboard enthusiast – announced he was engaged, I knew what I had to build as a wedding present.

Looking though Matt’s book in order to decide which board to make, I vacillated between the Long Board and the Berger Board. The Long Board is what it sounds like, a long skateboard. It is flat and made from multiple strips of hardwood which are laminated to create a pattern. The Berger Board is a little more complicated. It’s made using bent lamination, using two layers of 1/8” Baltic Birch plywood sandwiched by layers of 1/8” shop sawn veneer. The veneer layers are made from multiple strips of contrasting hardwood to create a pattern similar to the longboard.

A photo of a veneer made board being cut to shape from the SK8MAKERS website.

As I only had about 2 weeks to make the board after work and around soccer & Cub Scouts, I was leaning towards the simple and straightforward long board. Then I found myself buying the plywood to make the torsion box used for the bent lamination of the Berger Board, and off I went.

I found the Berger Board an exciting and instructional challenge. It used shop sawn veneer and a bent lamination, both techniques I had never tried.

Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

Nicks Berger Board Part I

Nicks Berger Board Part III

As building the torsion boxes was an enjoyable task I already knew how to do, they provided an easy transition into the Berger Board construction. Cutting the shop sawn veneer was a new challenge.

These boards will be getting much thinner.

Once I had obtained a piece of purple heart which was actually large enough to use, I set about resawing. Thankfully, my bandsaw was already in tune. It has had a Wood Slicer blade on it since I first set the saw up. In order to resaw I simply set the fence with a clearance of 1/8” between it and the blade (accounting for the set to the blade’s teeth) and used a magnetic finger board to hold the board against the fence. Then I slowly guided the wood through.

I was amazed by my results resawing.

This was my first time resawing. I found that with my properly tuned saw I was able to get a fairly smooth and absolutely drift free cut as long as I kept the feed rate down. I was even able to cut a piece of the maple thin enough to be a commercial veneer.

Good dust collection is very important when resawing.

Once the veneer was cut, I noted that the purpleheart had warped a bit. In order to create the perfectly straight edge I needed I laid a few pieces of the veneer out on a scrap of MDF and then used my track saw to true up one edge. I also used the track saw to cut the narrow ¼” wide center strips of veneer.

The veneer layers need straight edges for glue up.

With the veneer cut and 1/8” Baltic Birch plywood trimmed to rough width, it was time to glue up the board. This proved to be a straightforward, yet nerve racking experience.

The purpleheart veneer, ready for glue up.

I used Titebond III glue (for it’s longer open time) and carefully spread glue on the sides of the veneer strips then set them next to each other on the bottom of the torsion box press. Then I applied glue to one side of a piece of plywood and set it in. The second piece of plywood was installed the same way. Finally I applied the top sections of veneer, gluing their underside and one edge of each side to side joint.

The top torsion box was set over the board and against the fence. Then I clamped, and clamped, and clamped.

Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

Nicks Berger Board Part III

Nicks Berger Board Part V

The final step before finish was the graphic. Since my cousin Nick (who the Berger Board was for) is a graphic designer, he has his own personal logo. I had another graphic designer friend of mine add Nick’s Fiancée’s initials and the wedding date to the logo. Then I used the ink jet photo transfer technique I learned about from Steve Ramsey at Woodworking for Mere Mortals. I was extra careful to apply the graphic square to the veneer and it turned out excellent.

For finish, I used a shop mixed wiping varnish, 50% Minwax polyurethane, 50% mineral spirits. Because I was rushed on time, I experiment with Japan dryer, adding it to the 2^nd and 3^rdcoats. I can’t say I noticed it speed things up, but I managed not to ruin anything with it.

Laying out the logo.

The first four (4) coats came out nicely. The last coat was the one with grit added to it for better traction to the top of the board. While the polyurethane of this coat came out as well as the others, the grit didn’t. Even though I mixed it according to the instructions, I found that it didn’t apply evenly. Some spots had tons of grit, while others had almost none.

Ready for finish.

Post finish.

After the finish dried I gave the non-grip covered surfaces of the board a final wipe down with a synthetic steel wool and attached the hardware. Never having assembled skateboard trucks, bearings and wheels, I found it a straightforward and simple task.

The board is finish!

Then I wrapped up the skateboard in towel and packed it in my truck.

Have Berber Board, Will Travel.

At Nick and Alana’s wedding the skateboard was the talk of the gifts and just about everyone who knew me came up and complimented me on it. I’m especially glad that Nick and Alana both liked it. It’s been added to the skateboard display in their apartment.

Dylan signs the guest book next to the Berger Board.

The finished board in all its glory.

Thankfully, it was appreciated.

Building the Berger Board was a lot of fun and I learn techniques I had never tried before. Even though I don’t skate I think I’ll be building more skateboards and I know I’ll be incorporating these techniques in my future work.

Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

Nicks Berger Board Part V

Nicks Berger Board Part IV

I’ve never been as nervous about a glue up as I was about Nick’s Berger Board. Because of the torsion boxes, I was essentially glueing blind. There was no way of knowing if there were gaps between the veneer sections until I took the board out of the clamps.

Out of the clamps and looking good.

Thankfully, the fence I attached to the larger torsion box and the clamps I had pressing against it kept the gaps away. The glue up and veneer turned out wonderfully.

This minor glue squeeze out was quickly handled by using a razor blade as a scraper, as shown by Matt Berger.

In order to create the shape of the board I first drew out the profile of half of it on a scrap piece of 1/8” plywood. I cut close to this line and used my oscillating belt sander to trim up to the line and further fair the curves. Using the center strip of purpleheart veneer to locate the center of the board I marked half the board, the flipping the template, marked the other half. Like the template, the board was shaped on the band saw and oscillating belt sand. My palm router with 1/8” round over bit finished the final shaping.

Shaped and ready for sanding.

The shaped board was then sanded from 80 to 220 girt. The final step was to make and drill out for the trucks. Lining them up was a bit never racking, but for just two (2) trucks, I didn’t want to go craze making a jig to set them square.

The initial layout of the trucks.

Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

Nicks Berger Board Part IV