I’ve recently completed my very first build, and thought it only fair to post a build thread on the forum that was such a useful resource to me for learning about this exciting hobby/sport/lifestyle/religion?
It all started when I was given a beautiful longboard deck at a manufacturing tradeshow called IMTS in Chicago last year (2018.) It was manufactured from a solid piece of aluminium plate, on a Datron CNC machine. There is a pattern machined into the top surface, instead of grip tape. The guys at the booth told me they’d give it to me, if I’d post some pictures of it on Instagram when I got back to where I live in New Zealand. Of course I agreed, and on the spur of the moment, told them I’d turn it into an electric longboard, which they were very interested to hear. At that stage, I knew nothing about the ESK8 community and had never ridden an electric board. It was time to get googling!
Here’s the starting moment of the project:
I looked around for trucks, and read some threads in this community. Decided to use either Paris or Caliber trucks, and I could get Paris locally easily, so I went with them. I thought they looked nice on the board, and thought the round section of the hanger would be handy for mounting the motor.
Wheels were a tough decision. I looked at all sorts of options, and decided the Evolve street kit would be a great way to get wheels, pulleys and belts all in one go. While they look like a really nice product, when I received them and started to plan the fitting, I realised they would take up too much width on my trucks, so I sent them back. Luckily, the shop I got them from was very helpful and refunded my money happily.
I then discovered https://buildkitboards.com/ and I was like a kid in a candy store. I got some of their 97mm black wheels, with their interchangeable pulley setup, as well as a bunch of other stuff which you’ll see further down.
The wheels looked really awesome on the board, and with just a little bit of turning on the lathe, I was able to modify the rear truck to get a hobbyking motor mount sitting nicely.
To be continued…