Hi Beau, how are you today? Can you tell me a little about yourself and Open Source Skateboards?
Hi Taryn, I’m doing well! A little bit about myself and OSS… well, I’m a skateboarder and I run OSS. OSS is an art project / business I created to empower creatives through skateboarding. This is accomplished by creating tools for skaters and builders, providing board design and build services, and running board-building workshops and online tutorials.
Do you skate? How long have you been skating?
I do skate! I’ve been skating regularly since around 2000.
What got you into building longboards? How long have you been building?
I got into board building in 2014 for a few reasons. Mainly, as a skateboarder, I wasn’t totally satisfied with board options. I wanted boards that had a symmetrical nose and tail and were made with more eco-friendly materials, like sustainably-sourced maple and water-based glue. I was also interested in running a business, and this seemed like a great opportunity to give it a shot.
What inspires you to create your boards?
My inspiration for my boards is constantly changing, but there’s this consistent dynamic where skating inspires my boards and boards inspire my skating. For the past few years, I’ve been more interested in the shapes and constructions of boards. I’m also inspired by minimalism, simplicity, and sustainability. My skateboard is one of my main channels for expressing myself, and I may wear down a board in as little as 3-6 months (which may actually sound long to some skaters). The boards I make for myself are usually fairly simplistic in their aesthetic, with more design emphasis on intentional geometry or materials. I like to explore how variations in these characteristics can affect my skating – and I try to enable other skaters to do the same.
A big part of what I do isn’t just building boards, but building tools to help others design and make boards. To me, that’s even more exciting. I’m very inspired by digital fabrication technologies, software, and the internet in helping people create custom products for affordable costs. It’s kind of funny, because, even though I have a background in engineering, I don’t think of myself much as a tech guy (I’d much rather be outside on a board than working on a laptop). However, something about bringing these areas together excites me – like, these technologies will help us be on laptops less and spend more time outdoors through efficiency (and hopefully help us generate less waste through their efficiency).
Do you use Roarockit products in the making of your work? How did you find out about us?
I’ve been using Roarockit products the entire time I’ve been making boards. I first heard of Roarockit when I was learning how to build boards, which I mostly learned through online tutorials and forums (like the late Silverfish Longboarding forum). I actually tried to build a hydraulic press and wood mold first, which was very unsuccessful. I decided to give the Roarockit method a try, and was very impressed with the quality of the boards – the boards in the bag actually turned out to hold up better than many of the major brand-name decks I had been skating! The Roarockit method allows me to make custom boards with custom molds for much less costs than if I was using a hydraulic press and precision-machined molds. Roarockit products also allow me to run classes where students can make and press their own custom shapes.
We know you design, build, and sell custom boards, blanks, and molds! Can you tell us more about your business?
Yes! OSS specializes in the design and fabrication of boards and tools for builders and skaters. Custom boards (and uncut blanks) can be built with no minimum order quantities, along with options for laser engraving and even some basic graphics. Similarly, customers that build boards themselves using the Roarockit method can order custom foam molds (or even two-part foam mold negatives, which can be used to cast concrete molds for hydraulic pressing). OSS also makes and sells fingerboard molds and fingerboard building kits. All of these custom products can be designed using the “SK8CAD” software on opensourceboards.com, which makes designing and visualizing these products easy. For special projects or where additional customization is needed (like rocker, camber, wheel flares, alternative concave, drops, etc.), I provide design services for a reasonable fee. I’m continuously working towards improving SK8CAD, but these design services make up for the gap in capabilities in the meantime.
What made you decide to create software to help other builders design their boards?
The original goal for the software was to allow skaters to see what they could customize on their board, and how a board with their custom specs would look. Since then, I’ve adapted the tool to work for custom skateboard molds, fingerboard products, and output SVG files for board profiles. In additional to helping customers visualize products, the tool would also be useful in board building workshops I run, and help me as a board builder. Much of what I learned about board building came for free, so, in a way, making these tools available for free is a way of giving back to the community of board builders.
You also teach classes centred around board building! How do you feel this program benefits the students? Do you have any special stories to share of the effects it had on the builders? Tell us more how you incorporate traditional educational topics into your classes!
Yes! Building boards is a great activity that provides exposure to different technologies, applied math and science, and art/creativity. Students get to apply what they learned in the classroom in a hands-on way that’s relevant to them, while building a product that most of them are familiar with.
When I look back on my most effective learning experiences, they typically involved hands-on work and relevance in my life. I run workshops with both kids and adults, and the effects the workshops have had are awesome. I heard that one student went on to go to college to study mechanical engineering after being inspired by the workshop.
Often, especially with adult builders, I hear about how surprised they were with how their board came out and how stoked they are. Often, it’s this sense of accomplishment and pride that is the most profound transformation I observe in the students – they may not dive deeper into board building, but this experience can inspire them to continue pursuing other crafts and being proactive problem solvers.
In the classes, traditional educational topics are presented in various ways – using trig and algebra during the board design process; understanding pressure and force during glue-ups; practicing safety and learning tool use during shaping. For any teachers interested in learning more, check out the “Teach” section of opensourceboards.com and explore the free curriculum and lesson plans published there.
Any advice for aspiring board builders out there?
Here are a few things that may help aspiring builders:
Start. Go for it. Don’t think too much. Plan what you can, but leave room for improvisation. Action yields ideas – the more things you do, the more ideas you’ll get.
Anticipate failure, knowing that success will come with persistence. Reflect on your failure – what didn’t work and why? Take action with the lessons you learn from reflecting.
Don’t try to do things as cheaply as possible all the time. Definitely try to save money where you can, but don’t let your efforts to save hinder you. Sometimes the cheap way is the long way or the frustrating way – don’t let poor tools or materials negatively affect your board building experience or devalue your time. If you try to do everything cheaply, you may end up disliking the process. Continue asking yourself not only, “How can I save more?”, but also, “How can I earn more?”
Don’t sell yourself short. It can be hard to sell custom boards – lots of time and resources go into them. Mass produced skateboards are cheap, and lots of skaters want cheap boards. Build for the people that desire quality and experiences. Make sure you’re actually delivering quality, too – from the product to the customer service. Serve your customers in ways that the big companies aren’t or can’t.
Start with the Roarockit kit if you want to make boards that are really your own shape (and no, Roarockit didn’t ask me to put this in). It’s just so much easier than getting set up for hydraulic pressing, which is the other most common DIY board building method.
Be safe. Wear personal protective equipment and use tools and materials responsibly.
Have fun. Skateboarding is about having fun. Carry that energy with you into board building.
If people wanted to find out more about your work, where can they see your creations and contact you?
Website: opensourceboards.com
Videos: youtube.com/opensourceskateboards (design & build tutorials, skateboard tutorials, etc.)
Creations: @opensourceboards
Skating my boards: @beau.trifiro
Thanks again for your time Beau, any last words for the readers back home?
Thank you! For everyone reading, thank you for reading, and I hope there was something here you found useful!
Taryn O'Grady,
Social Media Expert, Roarockit Skateboard Company