There is a product development rule that says you should always test until destruction. We carried out that test for sure with Mr K’s Loaded inspired board being a little on the skinny side for the…ahem…”Mature Gentleman”.
MK2 has already been made out of 18mm ply! You win some & you lose some.

Using the laser cutter to mark out the center line & hole positions for the trucks on the wood blanks.

The Laser in action. This weeks homework is ‘What does “LASER” stand for?

A bit of slalom practice too!

Whats new?

The new skateboard has had its final spray and is awaiting graphics to be applied. We are hoping graphics can be applied using a sponging technique so we can cope with larger groups.

Spot the difference??

Probably not at first glance but the new board has been sprayed with Acrylic Paint to reduce cost and environmental impact as we are now using our own compressor and mixing the paint to the correct viscosity ourselves. Ask our recent club members how to measure viscosity!

You will also be pleased to know the use of the router in finishing the boards edges mean you will be able to make your boards quicker and to an even high quality!

The new project choice …..   Need another clue?

A cheaper option for club members not wanting to purchase trucks and wheels. We are building the first prototype now! Pop in and have a look. What do you know about equilibrium?

New members please make sure you see Mr Fordham and get your name on the list! It is growing and spaces are always limited although we hope to be able to increase group sizes due to the hard work of staff and mentors in developing our projects. Thankyou.

Staff and student mentors are still busy researching new approaches to the production of boards with an eye to reducing our carbon footprint too. We want to improve further the quality and choice of boards our students are able to make.

Over the past week staff and student mentors have been producing power point presentations to help further in the explanation of the science, technology and maths principles we are encountering each week.

Tonight we started also started our initial investigations into the choices of paints available to us. We have high hopes for the use of acrylic based paints on our boards which will help in reducing the cost of producing boards.

Like you we too are desperate for some dry weather so we can get out and bomb some hills!

Mr Fordham

This weeks session took the shape of looking at the design spraying process. We started out by making some simple stencils with which we were going to create ‘test prints’  later on in the session. We then looked at paint viscosity as it plays a big part in creating the right mix for spraying. Using a compressor powered airbrush we then sprayed the test stencils. While doing this we discussed the ‘Venturi effect’  & how it is a key factor in the use of the airbrush & spray cans. Science, Art & Technology in harmony!

This is what Jonah had to say about the session: “This week we learnt about the airbrush and how it uses the Venturi effect. We first went and cut some ‘Santa Cruz’ stencils. We then learnt about the Venturi effect, which is when air gets blown over the paints and picks it up and separates the paint into tiny pieces. Therefore making it sprayable. After we had a go at airbrushing on scrap pieces of wood with the ‘Santa Cruz’ stencils. We also learnt about watering down the paint to make it runnier. This is called viscosity.”