Sure, in the 70’s you could have made a skateboard deck in shop class. Now you have more options. Of course there is Paul Schmitt’s CreateAskate that we’ve covered here a little. CreateAskate is for educators only, so what about those of you who aren’t in grade school? Surely there are adults interested in learning how to make their own skateboards. Roarockit has an emphasis on possible use in school programs, but it’s always been available for individuals. Now Roarockit has a permanent facility for learning how to make skateboards. They had a grand opening of their Professional Skateboard Making School last weekend. Sounds like a good idea if you find the task of building your own vacuum press a little intimidating and need more hand holding than the take-home kit provides. If you want to see how skateboards are made the old fashioned way there’s another video and some more CreateASkate coverage after the jump. [Source: Lumberjocks.com]

The easiest thing to try when “making your own” skateboard is to buy an uncut blank and cut out your own shape. That will usually suffice for most people. The next step requires building a mold and making a press. Instructables member Gregorylavoie has posted a pretty good in depth tutorial on how to make a skateboard mold and vacuum press. I’ve seen a various methods of DIY presses that don’t involve welding and hydraulics. Most of them involve clamps. The mold part is the most daunting of the two, and requires the most finesse. Professionally made molds are not just a top and a bottom cast together. That is to say, the top piece wouldn’t be a perfect fit to the bottom piece. Making the concave symmetrical along the vertical axis is a job best left for CNC machines or skilled shapers. Granted, for your own use you don’t have to be that picky. Using a vacuum press makes the job of the mold a lot easier, since you only have to make one side and the vacuum compresses the rest of the board against the mold. This is the same basic process that Roarockit sells as a home…

The Marginal Way project is having thier annual BBQ and fundraiser this weekend, but their generator gave up the ghost, so be a local hero and contact them if you have a temporay generator hookup for the event. If you can’t bring a generator, bring your board and support the scene. Oh yeah it’s that time again, the end of the summer Marginal Way Skatepark 2nd annual BBQ. Come down and see the progress of the park. we have been doing some cool stuff over the past year. hopefully this next year we can continue to make more rad shit. the BBQ is going to be fun food, skating, game of CRETE (our version of SKATE) and music. Plus our pal Quincy Quigg illustrated a cool new shirt for us that will be for sale during the event. come down and see what going on at your local Seattle DIY park and help us celebrate and make some money for the start of Fall 07. Marginal Way Skatepark BBQ SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2007 1:00PM SKATEBOARDING, MUSIC, FOOD GAME OF C.R.E.T.E (REGISTER AT 10 AM) SUPPORT SEATTLE‚S D.I.Y. SKATEPARK

Skate and Annoy’s pro contest coverage of the rained out Battle Ground Washington leg of the Oregon Trifecta that was moved to Tobin’s backyard bowl in Portland (Whew!) comes from Shawn Reinert. I don’t think Tobin envisioned this when he built his bowl. Talk about stoked! These two pics are some of Shawn’s longer exposures that picked up flashes from the other multiple cameras present, and the results are strange. Old expanding sponge head on the left is Donovan Rice. The lien-to-tail on the six wheeled skateboard is Josh Sandoval. More weird shit and conventional pictures as well in the feature. Check out: 2007 Oregon Trifecta – Tobin’s Bowl

Reading and watching documentaries are no substitute for experience. If you want to learn how to work with concrete to build skate structures, here’s your chance. Marginal Way Skatepark will be hosting the Red Bull 10 Stair contest on Saturday, August 4. Red Bull has offered to pay for skatepark improvements as their contribution to the cause. Part of the improvements are needed for the contest. SATURDAY JULY 28 – ALL DAY – MARGINAL WAY NEEDS YOUR HELP! We have 10 yards of mud scheduled for an 8 AM delivery. The site is completely prepped for a flat pad and transition pour around the back of the pillar island. Come down to the skatepark and help us out. Good times, good karma and hard work = MW Phase 2! Marginal Way Collective

Skate and Annoy, your repository for deceased skate spots, brings you the Chavez bowl. Actually, Dave V is bringing it to you. The video of the ceral bowl in Texas reminds me of Joel and Dave Chavez’s old bowl in Richmond, Ca. These were taken about 4 years ago. The bowl was built completly from found materials…they didnt put a cent into it. It’s no longer there due to noise complaints but it was fun while it lasted. It includede a plexiglass light for viewing and weird angled coping… not that easy to skate but no cereal bowl either. Does anyone remember that band Chavez? They were pretty good.

Check out this video of a half-sphere bowl some guy built. One dude is riding a retro looking board so this looks like it could be old but the outfit looks more recent. Check out the video after the jump. Thanks for the link Dan.

There is a Bay Area arts website called Fecal Face that I read regularly. A lot of the names you see at those skateboard art shows show up on the Fecal. This bowl showed up there recently. Sounds like it’s in Oakland. Anybody know what the story is here? Is it a DIY skate project or is it a fishpond? One more photo after the jump.

OK, I don’t know if they are actually anarchists or not, but Flora Skatepark is being built behind a building called the Rote Flora in Hamburg, Germany that currently has strong ties with squatter and left-wing groups. Do right-wing squatters exist? The Rote Flora was one of the few theaters in Germany to survive WWII intact. According to Wikipedia, it was used as part of a department store from the 70’s until 1987. Here’s where it gets murky. For some reason there was an uproar by local shopkeepers and and “autonomous groups” (Anarchy!) when a producer wanted to turn it back into a musical theatre. There were clashes with police, and ultimately most of the building was torn down in 1988, only to be renovated and squatted in, leased and un-leased, made a focal issue in an election year, etc… The point is, most renegade concrete projects tend to be located in spots that don’t attract attention. Maybe this one will succeed in finding a permanent location precisely because the adjacent property has such a volatile “hands-off” history. The end result… Opening party for the first part of Flora Skatepark is June 30th, 2007. Thanks to Peter Diepes for the…

I had an idea to make a basic skateboard photography tutorial for our DIY section. Not that I’m the greatest photographer or anything, but a few simple tips can really go a long way for the beginner, especially in this day and age of relatively cheap digital SLR’s. Heck, the best photo advice I ever got was from Kevin Thatcher when he was at the helm of Thrasher. He sent me back an envelope full of negatives with a hand scrawled note that read simply “Use a faster shutter speed and your pictures won’t be so blurry. – KT.” In the spirit of that advice, I present this link to Heyday Skateboarding’s Shot Composition Basics tutorial that features a lot of solid tips. Of course all of these tips are hard to remember when you are trying to capture fleeting shots that aren’t set up or have some technical difficulties, but that’s what separates the guys who don’t get paid for skate photography from the guys that don’t get paid very much. Heyday also has some video editing tutorials and a lot of other content to boot. Some people will try to jealously guard supposed industry secrets while others aren’t…