weekend production

piecing together a cross band (super thin stuff )

all seven plys have been sorted, trimmed, sanded, and tacked clothed...curren checks for knots

the smallest piece of wood in this picture is a average skate deck veneer...the other seven are being pressed for a 'big' 38" top deck...the saw is for scale

JIM'S Set-Up

Jim from Predog sent in these super chill photos of his new set-up, his email was short and sweet, it went as follows:

"December meets PREDOG meets Summit 125

Pretty freaking sick rig! Cannot wait till next weekend. Tahoe is supposed to get about 3 feet by next Sat!!!"

best of luck with that set-up Jim, really great snaps....predog truck looks so clean and high quality...(want one)

email update

i love getting these emails..(the marshfield Mass. crew) .... sean riding a 8.75"x36" december single deck , with 4000 gallium sintered base, and five glide lock channels

recieved, email and photo from sean k.... here's a short clip of the email

".....Starting to finally look like December up here, mountains are finally opening up, and reports say ocean bluff is getting a few inches of natural snow this weekend, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. The flat deck has been treating me well, even though I have just had small ice rink snow sessions. This is just a shot of messing around on a little kicker.

take it easy man hope you get some snow."

.....very cool pic...the photo has some energy ....thanks again sean

pressing hats....

.....for awhile now I owed a 'trucker hat' to seth at maples' wax.... ...this one's for him....

if you would like one they are on sale for this entire month (DECEMBER) $12- includes shipping.....

to place an order email decembersnowskates@gmail.com thank you

Snow in texas this morning, I hope someone was able to s'skate today.....

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Steve's view

my brother emailed me these photos from his neck of the woods this afternoon...lucky

....few questions came in about the Sannino....so here's a pic of it..

check where the brakes are...

I disabled the 'sign in' to comment feature...so now anyone can comment on the blog, no need to sign in.....

I hope those of you that have snow are enjoying it...send a picture in if you can

decembersnowskates@gmail.com

late evening pics...couple more clear coats , some grip and its finished

***click on pic to enlarge***

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happy december first

needs alittle more detail....almost finished 34.5" x 9.5" custom

DECEMBER IS COMING

december is bringing some good news: waves cleaned up nicely today, swell for this weekend, a local resort is opening up on the 5th...snow tuesday and friday at the local mountains,...found a couple of more of those awful trucker hats...and sanded out nick's board, passed on using the router, and justed sanded the rails by hand, round on the bottom half and vertical on the top (I'll explain more later)...going to get my real camera back this week, hoping to post quality pictures "daily" (every day) this month....after the skate session yesterday, I'm amped up for this new season...went thru my first couple of hats quickly last time, email me at decembersnowskates@gmail.com for any info or orders on decks and or hats....
boardbags/socks coming soon....

...sanded the you know what out of this board, it feels so smooth..

...i have an old mid-eighties time-trail bicycle (triathlon style) I bought off of ebay a few years back for entering small local triathlons...the bike was made by a Italian bike designer in Italy called Sannino....Mr. Sannino is such a craftsman/artist that he would place all the steel tubing on pillows for a day or two after cutting it to size and before welding it into a frame...

...the reasoning, He believed that cutting the tubing (however non-violent approach he used)messed up the molecular structure of the metal, and that placing it on a pillow allowed the metal time to "recoup" prior to welding...sounds eccentric and extremely hard to believe, even if it made zero sense I still love the idea, and the labor of love behind his work.,.. however after working for years with different materials, and taking classes in building construction -'strength of materials', mechanical drawing, autoCAD, and every other class to finish my certification in industrial arts, followed by a masters in educational technologies, I can tell you one thing, he's right,......more is more...more love equals more love, or a better product

...but the real proof happen many years ago hand nailing a hardwood floor in a huge mansion, the wood was so dense it would wear out our pilot hole drill bits like crazy.. but the amazing part was setting the nails with our nail sets...each carpenter on the job had a magnetized nail set by lunch time...due to all the pounding and vibration the electron particles in the nail set completely aligned themselves, causing it to become a magnet..(much like all the nails and screwdrivers in your junk drawer that gets opened and slammed over the years)....hated that job...but it proved Sannino right...the vibration from the saw could rearrange the particles in the metal, which would not make for the best product..

more to this story.....I was extremely lucky to have worked with two older trim carpenters that just started a business together (after years of field work) many moons ago... They were out to prove themselves to the local industry that they were the best. They would give me pep talks before the day would start, (like two coaches) and would tell me to stop working when another carpenter from a different crew would walk into the room , so he wouldn't pick up on one of their "special technique's" (i swear that was true) they had egos, they were paranoid, and they were seriously talented...and luckily I was along for the ride...I learned tons of stuff from them ....that all being said...Sannino's work ethic inspires me the most when I make a board...He has set the standard on how a handmade product should be built, and every board I make I seem to ask myself if Sannino would approve, its a nice little benchmark....

sidenote: last I read Mauro Sannino is still making carbon fiber bikes for Corratec....

oh and he didn't like chrome, he felt it robbed the elasticity from the tubing..the dude liked flex..

no snow, no waves

robots who skate

candyapple

NICK'S deck

CANNOT get this design out of my head

this is the front view of the classic, "industry standard" boston whaler 13'...probably the most coveted craft by any young lad who grew up near a body of water..prior to obtaining their driver's license...this hull has barely changed since its creation in 1956....my father growing up in Boston always wanted one, and he passed on that jones to me, but like him, I could never afford one..

As an adult I was able to obtain a similar boat made by a small local boat builder.(which I rarely use, but love just as much as the day I bought it.....in addition to a much smaller 'punt-like' boat (8') that is a complete knock off of this whaler hull)

.... in the past two months not a day goes by that I don't look at those two boats and laugh about making a super thick and super short surfboard shaped exactly like the whaler's hull and no fins... i even reclaimed some old blue flotsam dock foam that's close to eight inches thick, and pretty gnarly...maybe I'll have my chance....

the story behind the whaler's conception and its designers'.. is an excellent one.....very simmonsque (bob simmons)

check out this site for the story:http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/13/originalHullDesign.html

thank you for use of the picture

a few UGLY Photos

glass was trimmed, but needs to be sanded

...this powderstick prototype came out of the press today...for every idea, another mold must be made (making molds is like applying shims in carpentry, once you can shim and read a level properly you can building anything.... shimming or producing molds is tedious stuff, you have to slow down, and once your done there's really nothing to look at or get excited about..... the board is made from foam, cherry, glass, and a ptex base (which will be laminated later, back in the press)..with some concave in the deck...pressing fiberglass in a mold as the resin sets makes for a pretty amazing bond as the pressure causes the resin to spread into every exposed surface.....lots of fun in the shop today...a topdeck tomorrow

B.Burke emailed this pic the other day...this was sometime last week....been tons of waves this october, and now this november.....and even better news more surf to come this week..

..this pic doesn't look pretty, but according to him the next day was..and he hasn't stopped talking about it since...go back to your beachbreak brother...

SWISS ALPS

...recieved this picture via email from Nick C. this morning. Nick contacted us looking for a replacement deck for his old burton snowskate....Nick lives in Switzerland and is a rider who's willing to ride waves, snow or ice...he's not picky...he's getting back into snowskating this season, and only has to walk a few feet to hit the slopes (this picture is the view from outside his window) very chill...we're working on a medium size top deck for his old burton junkyard...a custom deck, that he can use if he changes sub sizes.. the deck will be perfect for the park, and the slopes he prefers... very stoked to get a deck out to his neck of the woods..

Sweet shot Nick thanks...

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....bindings free....

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AHH!!! new maple veneers have arrived...

the xbands are the fuzzy ones

SWS snaps from 11/16

S.W. soldo emailed these shots from yesterday...finally wave shots taken with something stronger then my iphone...shots look real nice stevo--thanks

Have some real good news about international shipping... more to come on this topic....but if you live in europe, and you can not find a big enough top deck (because a even the biggest old school skate deck is about 5 to 6 inches to short in length) for your snowskate sub, let me kno..after doing some serious shipping research today...I found out that shipping costs overseas is very reasonable.....(can get 'completes' sent out too...if desired)

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decembersnowskates@gmail.com

'

Sac. Lamb

skimmed the edge of the border on the search.

and while I headed into the mountains looking for snow this weekend, I couldn't resist glancing down at my phone to get a quick look at the local wave cam 8 hrs away... this was the video still grab ....thats way outside..about a 15' lump rest stop

foggy rock face

signs in french and english

peaks covered in clouds...low ceiling, but no snow

found this lump of snow...I'm about two weeks early this year

glassy calm

traveled to the edge of Canada but didn't find any snow...(unseasonable warm spell ruined that idea)

wasn't the main objective of the trip but it would have been fun....

waves were still excellent today ....

wood delivery tracking system is estimated for 11-17... one deck from this shipment is spoken for (nick in switzerland, if we can work out the shipping logistics) .....but I will have quite a few decks available from this run..so if you need a custom size single or top deck contact us at decembersnowskates@gmail.com

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Sneak Peek into PREDOG trucks

Jim sent me this picture of his snowskate truck he developed..Predog.. a truck is the mechanism that seperates the sub deck from the top deck....just like a truck on a skateboard (sorry I stated the obvious) looking foward to seeing more pics and hearing more about his innovating design....will pass on all info and a link when available..

headed out of town for a extended weekend. There's a chance of some snow cover where I'm headed, but at last report on 11/9 ..there was real warm day and most of the intial snow surronding the summits basicly melted away...who knows? fingers are crossed...

We are officially taking orders for top decks, so when you are ready we are ready...

waiting on sintered ptex....once I get a delivery in,.... our single decks will be available shortly there after...

..AS THEODORE ROOSEVELT once said, ..."pack quickly and carry a bunch of sticks"

Chocolate snowskate deck headed to Santa Cruz

... This top deck is being boxed up and shipped to Jim a snowskater in Santa Cruz, CA..
Jim has some snowskate history, he is the designer/founder of PREDOG Snowskate Trucks...
This deck is 42"x 9.5"... our largest deck we make
a full mountain board


fully sorted, sanded, laminated, and pressed at the shop by hand
it's been sealed 3x and has even a small predog tag...It's ready to go...
Thank you Jim...send some predog pics
... Let the season begin..

"SKATE SNOW"

We're still pressing some decks for skateboarding if anyone needs one, I have demo'd some of our top decks as skate decks and the width and size is super easy to skate/cruise, especially if your new to skating, or have a mellow interest...they ARE very easy to ollie...I'll add very basic graphics so you can customize it with your own art work (quality artwork works too)..... as well as custom sizes...

you order these decks for the quality and the painstaking care involved in every build....each veneer is hand picked, hand sanded for the greatest adhesion and bonding possible, which translate to greater durability and superior "POP"..... satisfaction guaranteed..





do to interest, I'm going to save some veneers for custom skateboards this winter


....along with a limited run of top decks, and deep powder singles...There will be a bunch of "flat" deck available this winter...at least one flat deck should be in everyone's quiver....our focus is lighter and more element proof...

homegrown art on this deck....create your own

contact decembersnowskates@gmail.com

Surfers have been enjoying personal shapes made by shapers with their input for eons, its time for skaters and snowskaters to experience that thrill...a handmade piece of rideable art specifically created for them based on their needs and input....

customize the xbands, number of varnish coats, your call, you will feel the difference....

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today the leaves turn,next the snow

***Production notes: there has been a bunch of good surf days, so production has slowed to a snail's pace....however the powdersingle is one good 'humid free' day away from being finished...