Strip
What you need
eccentric sander
heat gun
razor
wooden rod
a bit of patience
Before you can start working with your skate wood, you need to get rid of all material that seals the wooden surface of each deck. First and foremost that means taking off the griptape.
Remove grip
To do that:
Apply heat to the edge of the griptape (on nose or tail). This softens the glue that sticks to the wood.
Peel off the griptape from side to side. Carefully, apply enough heat, such that you can effortlessly start peeling off the edges using a razor, knife or similar tool.
Roll the peeled-off tape around a stick wind it all the way down. If you keep the stick orthogonal to the board it will be easier to get it all off in one piece.
Naturally, you can also pull-off the tape using only your hands. But depending on how many decks you want to prep, this can get a bit painful after a while. After all, grip tape is fairly rough sandpaper. Also, it was easier for me to get the griptape off in one piece when I wound it down, instead of pulling. Pulling just made me more impatient and so I ended up ripping off pieces of tape. This is not the most fun part of the journey. But if you put on some good music, get a friend to help and take time while doing it, the whole deal can also be relaxing.
Once the grip tape is off the board, the top and bottom surface of each board should be sanded. This step removes any left over glue and yields a well treated surface that can be used for the upcoming tasks. Additionally, you need to get rid of any graphics, stickers and coating on your decks. You will know that your work is done, once the deck loses its shine and shows only matte colored wood. During this, you’ll notice quickly why less glue on the board makes sense. Sanding sheets lose roughness a lot faster if excess glue sticks to their surface. Therefore, a steel brush may be used initially.
Note: Try to uniformly remove material while sanding. We used an eccentric sander, which works well. But we did not take enough caution with the flat surface of the sander against the concave shape of the decks. Especially with the boards that needed a lot of treatment, we ended up with unevenness and increased concavity. As a result, the stack of glued boards ended up with small gaps to the side of the stack. If you have enough time, consider sanding by hand and use a sponge or similar to press the sandpaper against the concavities.
Careful, this step creates fine dust. I would encourage you to put on a mask for protection of your lungs. Also, make sure to do it somewhere, where nobody minds the mess.
Thanks again, Carsten. Not sure if “Das wird doch eh nischt!” was the right prediction for the outcome of this project. Still, I really appreciate you for letting us put dirt in your backyard.
Resources
Skaters, did you know that David Gonzalez (Thrasher skater of the year 2012) is also a rad guitarrist? Here is a track of his skate rock band Ratt Black, performed with special guest and skate legend Geoff Rowley.
And because the dude is a sick skater, here is his “Spirit in Black” Part…
