How to make fingerboard wheels
How to make fingerboard wheels
How to Make Fingerboard Wheels?
Moderator
Do any one know how to make them?
If so please let me know!
i will be giving out some prizes if i get the right information.
-What are the materials needed?
-And where can i buy this material at?
-Whats that rubber that the wheels are made out of?
Any information will do!
Master Fingerboarder
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Face Melter
Last edited by jacklilley on Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:32 pm; edited 1 time in total
Moderator
Master Fingerboarder
Just get a small lathe, if affordable, or the tech block at your school might have them, Simply spin the teflon or urethane into any shape you want, and use the appropriate drill bits, you will need a peice thats circular about half an inch in diamater and three inches in length or less it depends more on the size you want your wheels to be
If you do it well enough you should be able to just slide the bearing(s) in, super gluing them in is absolutely stupid cause if you get glue in the bearing your screwed. It should take about 10-15 mins to make, and you will get faster and better wheels the more that you maker, here is another video, that you could use to show you the basic idea of how to turn (shaping in lathe language) A good wheels shape. The bearing should be as luajh wrote and inside 1 mm, and outside of 2-3mm, you can get the bearings here
Drill bits here
and the basic turning videos here
lathe ( i know its a wood lathe but its good to watch)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N9E1oUQ9C4
and include, a scoop, gauge, and cut off are the most basic. Dont mold, it never comes out good. I would recommend a very precise small lathe you dont need any of the big stuff that can reach about 3000 r.p.m all you need is about 500. GO SLOW GO SLOW GO SLOW, thats the biggest thing. I can stress it enough. the other thing is MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EYE PROTECTION. i have made countless things on lathes, pens bowls you name it, you do not want to injure yourself in anyway! You might need to buy some adapters to use drill bits but make sure you get a good lathe a second hand will do it, or sometimes in certain areas with places where they have tools in workshops that you pay to use by the hour. Thats about it, good luck i hope i gave you what you need. looking forward to seeing some good wheels out of you.
an eye injury costs a lifetime, safety glasses cost two dollars
Last edited by ablair on Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:56 pm; edited 3 times in total (Reason for editing : finish links, fix links, add a link)
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Master Fingerboarder
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Master Fingerboarder
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I am the law. 🙂
flatface teflon bushings
Ablair brand pivot cups
and foamy OHMY GOODNESS THIS STUFF IS AMAZING.
How to Make a Fingerboard (my Style)
Introduction: How to Make a Fingerboard (my Style)
yeah! first instructable
here’s how to make a fingerboard
finger skateboard
5 plys
Step 1: Stuff You Need
2 big sheet of veneers(2 different kinds[ cherry, oak, maple, etc ])
scissors
wood glue
aluminum can
very strong clips or clamps
metal file
sandpaper
optional
printer and paper for template
Step 2: Cut the Veneers
cut 3 veneers with the grains going vertical
2 veneers with the grains going horizontal
then cut it according to the template given
Step 3: Glue Them!
Any wood glue is ok.Just need it to go hard once it dries.So,apply them thinly and firmly on every ply.
make sure you stick them cross-plied.
Step 4: Mold It.
take the aluminum can and cut it according to the template.Make two.Bend it according to a skateboard shape.
example
kicks
concave
dips
Then,use the clips or clamps to press the veneers in the aluminum mold.You can also use two tech deck’s deck to be the mold.it works better
Step 5: Before Finish
you have to file the edge where there are excess glue and pieces of wood outside.you need it to be smooth to make it look PRO!
Step 6: File It
Start with the metal file.File the edge.the glue part.
then if not satisfied with the look,use the sandpaper to make it smooth.
Step 7: Last Step
You need to drill the holes for the trucks but in this instructions,I didn’t drill it because I have no drill.Sorry about that.
Then,clearcoat it all around the deck.Once it’s dry,slap some griptape and stickers.You are done!
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145 Comments
Question 1 year ago on Step 1
how do I download the template
Question 1 year ago on Step 2
Why they should be vertical & horizontal? Any make sense explanation?
12 years ago on Step 7
what thickness veneer like less then 10mm?
Reply 5 years ago
3mm is used for full sized skateboards so 1-2mm. Ik this was posted 7 years ago but it might help others
Feather Fingerboard
Overview
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This is a 3D printed fingerboard specifically designed for the Adafruit line of Feather boards. It’s similar to a standard fingerboard but features special mounting holes for installing an Adafruit Feather. The deck was 3D printed using ColorFabb’s PLA/PHA bambooFill. This material is 70% colorfabb PLA and 30% recycled wood fibers.
A fingerboard is a working replica (about 1:8 scaled) invented by Jaken Felts, of a skateboard that a person «rides» by replicating skateboarding maneuvers with their hand. The device itself is a scaled-down skateboard complete with moving wheels, graphics and trucks.[1] A fingerboard is commonly around 10 centimeters long, and can have a variety of widths going from 29 to 33 mm (or more). Skateboarding tricks may be performed using fingers instead of feet. Tricks done on a fingerboard are inspired by tricks done on real skateboards. Jaken Felts is widely credited as making the first fingerboard, and his skit in Powell-Peralta’s «Future Primitive» video brought fingerboarding to the skateboarders of the world in the mid-1980s. Around the same time, he wrote an article on how to make fingerboards in TransWorld SKATEboarding magazine.[1]
This is mostly for show, but this can be used for actual finger boarding. Although difficult, it is possible to land tricks. When the Adafruit Feather is mounted to the deck, the weight isn’t exactly even so the balance is slightly off. The length of an Adafruit Feather is just about right for mounting on a standard fingerboard.
Here’s a list of the parts needed to make this project.
Easy Fingerboard
Introduction: Easy Fingerboard
Skateboarding might be a fair weather sport, but with a small scale fingerboard can be active inside all day long. Though these boards are 1:8 scale, they are 8x the fun!
This easy project would be great to use in the classroom with students in 4th grade onward as a fun challenge that explores STEM concepts including engineering, math, 3D design, and manufacturing. The design can be modified to create more intricate shapes and used to explore new ways to design an already established object. From a STEM perspective, students can learn about design tolerance using a 3D printer, and examine what thresholds work best for allowing parts to fit together snugly and to allow rotation.
This design uses Tinkercad to create a fingerboard that is printed as one piece, without any supports. The wheels are press fit onto the axles and stay locked in place, but still rotate. Here is my fingerboard model, you’re welcome to remix this however you like:
Ready to get you skate on? Let’s make!
Step 1: Making the Deck
Begin by opening a new design in Tinkercad.
To start making the deck a box was dragged from the sidebar onto the workplane.
Once placed the shape can be clicked and values can be input for the dimensions of the deck, in our case we’re making the deck on it’s side so we’ll use 60mm x 2mm (length and depth of deck).
The actual dimensions aren’t important, since we can resize or scale the board later to suit our needs.
Next, a rounded roof shape was dragged from the library and onto the workplane.
This will be the inclined kick of the deck. We’ll resize this by clicking on it and reducing the depth to 2mm to match the deck we placed earlier.
The shape can be rotated by clicking on the piece and locating the semicircle arrows near the selected shape. There are 3 different arrows corresponding to the axis on which it can rotate. Since our board is being built sideways we want to rotate around the Z axis, which will b located on the bottom of the shape on the workplane.
Click and hold on the semicircular arrows and move your mouse to rotate the piece around that axis. You can also input an exact rotation in degrees by using the text box to put in an angle. I used 22°.
To line up the two shapes you can drag either of them towards the other, but to get really precise we can use the align tool from the top navigation bar. Select both shapes and then click the align icon. There will be an overlay that appears on the workplane with handles at the ends and middle of each work plane. We want both pieces to be aligned along their bottoms, so use the handle closest to you (shown in red above) to move both pieces to be bottom aligned.
After they are aligned along the bottom, click anywhere to stop the align. next step is to move the two pieces together laterally so that the rotated rounded roof shape overlaps the rectangle. Select the rounded roof and drag towards the rectangle while holding shift, which will constrain the movement along one axis. move the rounded roof until the end is completely inside the rectangle.
The the basic board shape is complete! We can work on the details, now.
Step 2: Symmetry
We could repeat the same steps to create the kick for the other end of the board, but I think making a copy is easier.
Select the kick from one end of the board and duplicate (ctrl+d), then use the flip command from the top toolbar.
Arrows will appear on the workplane indicating which direction the selected object will be flipped. As shown in red above, flip along the axis to create a mirror of the kick.
Select all 3 shapes (kick, deck, and other kick) and group (ctrl+g) to combine the shapes into one piece.
Step 3: Axle
The trucks are the most technical part of this build, but by breaking it down into smaller parts it’s easily manageable. Start by dragging a cylinder from the library to the workplane. There is a modifier menu that pops up for some shapes that allows changes to the parameters of the selected object. The cylinder is one of those shapes.
The menu for this shape has sliders that can be moved to refine the shape parameters. We want to move the sides slider all the way up to maximum, this will give the cylinder smooth sides. Change the diameter of the cylinder to 5mmx5mm.
Next, find the torus from the library and drag that onto the workplane. Using the same menu, the torus can be modified to have more sides which will make the shape smooth. Change the diameter of the torus to 7mmx7mm.
The cylinder shape will be the axle that the wheels ride on, and the torus will be the edge that keeps the wheel on the axle.
Now, drag a box hole from the library onto the workplane. We’ll use this hole shape to create relief openings in the axle that will allow the wheel to slip on and stay in place.
Resize the box shape to 0.5mmx8mm, with a height of 2mm.
Make a duplicate of the box hole and rotate the copy 90°, making an X shape.
Above, these basic shapes are what are used to make the axle for the wheels.
Select all 4 shapes (2 boxes in X configuration, torus, and cylinder) and align them in the center by using the middle handles on the workplane.
With all the shapes aligned and centered, make a duplicate of the torus, then move the duplicate upwards, this will be the channel the wheels will ride inside. I show 6mm here, but this can be any size to match your wheel width. Select everything and group to create the axle.
This is one side of an axle for our skateboard. Next, we’ll duplicate this to create the corresponding axle on the other side.
Step 4: Duplicate Axle + Make Trucks
Select the grouped axle and duplicate, then mirror the copy and move upwards. The relief cuts should be facing outwards.
Before joining the two axles into one we can start the truck design. Find the roof shape in the library and dag it onto the workplane.
Rotate and resize the roof shape into a flat triangle prism shape, about 4mm thick.
Grab a cylinder from the library and drag it to the workplane, smooth out the sides using the slider, then resize the diameter to 4mmx4mm.
The cylinder and the tip of the triangle prism we aligned and then moved so the tip was almost poking out the cylinder (shown below).
The cylinder and triangle prism can be aligned with the two wheel axles. Select the axles, cylinder, and triangle prism and group to create the truck assembly.
Move the truck assembly so the wide end of the triangle prism is inside the deck, then duplicate the truck and move the copy (using shift to constrain the axis of motion) to the other end of the deck.
The construction of the board is nearly complete! If you’re unhappy with any elements of the design so far you can select the shape you want to modify and ungroup. Then, once changes are made, group again.
Step 5: Wheels
There’s a few ways to make 3D printed wheels, but I like using the tube shape. Dragging a tube onto the workplane brings up the modify menu where you can change the interior and exterior diameters of the tube shape to suit your design.
An alternative to this approach would be using a cylinder with a smaller hole cylinder inside it to create the wheel shape. Either works here.
Copy the wheel 3 more times to get 4 wheels total.
Step 6: Export + Print
With everything grouped together, select all and export using the icon in the top right. For 3D printing export as .STL.
The reasons the board was deigned sideways is so that it can be printed without using any support structure. Support is used in areas of overhang when 3D printing, which allows areas that are suspended above the print bed with nothing underneath it something to rest on when printing starts. Printing without support material is preferred as there is no cleanup after the print is done.
This design prints without any supports, but you may need to tweak your printed settings to dial in this print.
Step 7: Add Wheels
The tolerance between the axle diameter and the interior diameter of the wheel is enough to allow the wheels to spin freely, and the relief cuts on the end of the axles allow the wheels to be pushed on and then spring back into shape to hold the wheels on.
Step 8: Skate!
While finger shoes and finger pants are optional, they definitely add to the effect.
Have you made you own fingerboard? I want to see it!
Share a picture of your creation in the comments below.
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12 Comments
Question 2 years ago
Do you have to have your own 3D printer to do this. If not how do I get it printed?
Question 2 years ago on Step 3
Question: in step 2, what is the height of the cylinder? You only list length and width.
Ok. First, I think this is a fun project. I’ve been working through the steps with some high school students. The trucks and wheels are quite tricky to model. Printing at the scale that the steps suggest, the axles crack from any pressure from installing the wheels. I double-checked the source tinkercad model only to discover that not only is the whole model bigger, but the trucks and axles are 1) constructed quite differently 2) taken from another skateboard model all together (ungrouping the pieces reveals this). Fine, that is all fine. But the initial build will be a headache if you are using these steps provided. Word of warning to other teachers out there. PS: At least my students have a new problem to tackle in analyzing the revised trucks and axles we found. 🙂
Reply 2 years ago
There is definitely design challenges translating from computer to physical model. If successfully printed these skateboard models, but did require some tuning on my printer. What is shown works from my experience, but the real aim here would be to use these steps as a guide and then iterate to what works best for your printer/abilities (which, it sounds like you’ve done).
I see much more value in your last sentence where you students are solving real world problems based on a design inconsistency.
How to Make a Wooden Fingerboard
Introduction: How to Make a Wooden Fingerboard
In this video tutorial I’ll you show my process for making wooden fingerboards! I made this deck using standard 0.6mm wood veneers and a Gator fingerboard mold. The woods I used were Maple and Santos Rosewood.
You can also find a great selection of wood veneers on Ebay here:
Step 1: Cutting and Preparing the Wood Veneers.
Begin by cutting 5 pieces of your desired veneer into strips that are 36mm by 115mm.
Each layers grain should run at a 90 degree angle to the layer beneath it to give the lamination super strength!
Here I’ve used a standard thickness veneer (0.6mm thick). You can get creative and use a variety of different species to make your board unique.
These pieces of Maple and Santos Rosewood were off-cuts from other projects but you can find great deals on bundles of wood veneers on Ebay if you’d like to give this a try. Follow the links below to find the best deals:
Step 2: Gluing and Clamping in the Fingerboard Mold
Apply a thin layer of adhesive to four of the five strips. I used Gorilla Glue on this board but wood glue or epoxy resin would also work fine.
Stack your strips in the desired order to create your lamination and then sandwich it in the mold between two sheets of baking paper. This will stop the wood from getting stuck to the mold so you can remove it easily later.
Using the fingerboard mold is the best option for creating these boards and they are inexpensive and easy to find. Use the links below to find one:
Step 3: Removing From the Clamp
Wait for the adhesive to fully cure and remove the mold from the clamp. Don’t skip ahead and remove the mold prematurely: if the glue isn’t cured then the board wont be at full strength!
Mark where the edges of the mold are on the lamination before taking it out of the mold so you can see where to draw your shape on later. I used a pencil but you’re probably better off scoring it using a craft knife.
Peel away the baking paper and mark out your desired fingerboard shape on the lamination. You can do this by tracing around an existing board or just free styling it if you have skills.
Step 4: Shaping the Fingerboard
Shaping is the fun part and can be done with a simple rotary tool, a linisher or a bench sander.
Take your time and shape the board with multiple passes until the shape and size look good.
Clean up the top and bottom and round off the edges by hand with sandpaper.
Clean the dust off the wood with a little white spirit so the finish really makes the grain pop later!
Step 5: Drilling and Countersinking Holes for Your Screws
Next use a drill bit slightly larger than the fingerboards screws to drill clearance holes in the spots marked by the mold.
Then countersink the holes using a larger drill bit or countersink bit so the screws will sit flush to the board when you put them in.
Step 6: Applying Grip Tape
Prepare to apply your grip tape. I didn’t have any so I improvised by using a 240 grit sandpaper.
Cut out a rough shape and stick it to the top of the board with an adhesive of your choice. I used a simple spray adhesive that seemed to hold up just fine!
I just sprayed a bit on to the grip tape covering it completely and then stuck it to the top of the board. A few paper clips helped to hold the grip tape in place and ensure 100% adhesion to the board.
Clean up any excess grip tape carefully with a craft knife and sandpaper then brush away the dust.
Step 7: Finish Him!!
Poke a pin through the holes at the bottom of the deck so you can see where the screws will go in and apply a finish of your choice to the board, I used Tung oil as it’s easy to apply and looks good!
Wait for the finish to fully cure, assemble your deck and skate!
Step 8: Make Your Own, Subscribe & Share
Thank you for reading/watching my tutorial, I hope it has been helpful and you get creative with making your own fingerboards! If you like this project then please share it with your crew on social media and share a photo if you make one.
You can find wood veneers and fingerboard molds in the links below too: