Composite skateboards!!!

General Composites Discussions Showcase
#1

Here’s what I’ve been working on. Been at this job for about 4 months now, we are launching 3 models and a kickstarter campaign in September. Super busy! But fun… And learning a lot… Any questions and comments are very welcome!

I hope the pictures work, I’m doing this from my iPhone…

If you are curious:
Here’s the company website:
http://hydroflexskateboards.com/

And of course, Facebook:
http://m.facebook.com/HydroflexSkateboards?id=337197619741430&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch&_rdr

Thanks for looking!

-david

the board in this pic had artwork done to it by my buddy and expert skater Eddie Chang - Thanks Eddie!

#2

Can only post 1 pic at a time…?

#3

Can do all sorts of colors

#4

One more pic

#5

that artwork looks reeel nice!

#6

Great looking boards, RTM process?

#7

Well done!

#8

thanks guys!

its an RTM-lite process, i think.

funny, i designed and made the molds and the process but im not exactly sure what its called…

its a closed mold process, and resin is infused into the cavity using vacuum. no pressure (besides atmospheric) is applied to the resin, though im having dirty thoughts about trying that.

so is that RTM lite? or just vacuum resin infusion in a closed mold?

-david

#9

I would call it VARTM (vacuum assisted resin transfer molding) but terminology varies from person to person, shop to shop and so on.

Looks great! Care to share any pictures of the molds/layup prior to infusion?

#10

I will check and see if I’m “allowed” to…

#11

Nice looking boards…I hope you do really well with them.

#12

Wow they look great! Thanks for sharing. Is that a spread tow fabric I see in one of them?

#13

very nice!! perfect finish, What is core used?

Regards

#14

It looks like Lantor Soric LRC, infused with pigmented resin. (you can use all sorts of pigments for epoxy, as long as they do not contain water)

#15

Hey guys

It’s called 3d core, we are getting it from Germany. Yup, pigmented resin :slight_smile: all kinds of cool and pretty possibilities…

I have used soric before for a couple projects, but the cells in in the soric I have used are much smaller, the cells in the 3D core we use are much larger and thicker. I’ve not used LRC before though, is it a larger celled version? I’ll have to look that up…

-david

#16

It is a very large cell Soric, but the channels in between are only very narrow. I guess the cell size is some 20mm (3/4") or even larger.

#17

Hei, nice boards. Looks more like longboards.
What is the thickness of the decks?

#18

Hey guys! Sorry for the long response delay! Been super busy. Making a new mold this week and between doing that and maintaining our current production and other development projects… I’m a little stretched…

The cells in the core we are using are about 1" in diameter, so it sounds very similar to soric LRC. Our 3d core material comes in a variety of thicknesses, we use a thickness that allows us to end up with an approximate board thickness of .45"… Sorry for being vague… I’m sure you all understand :confused:

The one board with carbon in it- yes that was spread tow, textreme I believe - leftovers from a surfboard our guys were making next door… I hoard any scraps I can get my hands on :). VERY easy to use and it infused beautifully. The binder textreme uses does a great job at keeping it all together nicely.

Thanks for the nice compliments! I hope this project works out… If it doesn’t… I’ll be looking for a new job! :confused:

-david

#19

Wow - very nice stuff. Some crazy graphics you’ve got there! (Although I guess it’s not really “graphics”.)

This kind of makes me wish that I could skate. Haha. :o