Sustainable Composites - Resin Infused Skateboard Using Flax and Bio Resin

In this case, we are using wooden planks from broken pallets to make the wood core. Selecting planks of about the right size, we cut them into thin strips. These thin strips were then glued together with small dots of hot melt glue, taking care to leave a small gap between each strip of wood. This gap is essential for the infusion resin to be able to pass to the bottom side of the core during the infusion itself.

We have fabricated the mould as this is a one off project. It was desirable to get a nice curve in both directions to give the skateboard the shape it needs. To do this we bent a thin piece of OSB wooden board over some wedges and blocks spaced to give the desired curve. We then screwed the OSB down to a stable base to hold its shape.

To give a nice smooth mould surface, a layer of "Foamex" sign board style sheet was bonded over the OSB surface. This gives a good smooth layer from which to mould from.

For this mould we have chosen to use our EasyLease Chemical Release Agent on the surface. This is applied with a lint free cloth building up the coats allowing 15 minutes between coats and a final hour before use after the last coat.

Once this was done, to avoid any trapped fibres or dirt, we applied the gum tape now before laying up the materials.

At this stage, you can decorate the first layer of fabric to give any visual effect you wish. In this case we used two thin stripes of Spread Tow Carbon Fibre ribbon and made a company logo stencil template which was spray painted onto the fabric.

The layup of this project was the previously decorated 500gsm flax fibre as a top and bottom layer. Additional material comes from a layer of 600gsm Unidirectional carbon tape and a layer of biaxial carbon cloth. The layup is mirrored either side of the core.

The natural fibres, as well as strength, add a nice damping property to the board as well as the natural fibre credentials and unique look.

The bagging stack used for this infusion is entirely standard for resin infusion and includes the peel ply layer, infusion mesh, spiral and silicone connectors, finally sealed with the vacuum bagging material. Ensure there are enough pleats in the tape and bagging material so that there is enough bagging film as the vacuum is pulled down. The vacuum line is then connected to the pump via the catch pot and the resin feed clamped off ready to be inserted into a pot of resin.

The next stage is to pull a vacuum on the bag, stopping in places, to adjust the bagging material and pleats to get the film where it needs to go. Once a full vacuum is achieved, conduct a leak test. The gum tape may need to be pressed firmly down to achieve a good seal. Once the leak test has been done, the bag is ready to be infused.

Now that the bag has been leak tested, weight out and mix the resin ready for the infusion. The resin feed line is inserted into the resin pot and secured so it cannot move. The clamp on the resin feed is then opened allowing the resin to flow.

Once the resin has fully infused the part, the vacuum line can be clamped, followed shortly after by the resin feed. Once both lines are clamped, the pump can be switched off and the skate board left to fully cure.

Now the deck has fully cured, it can be demoulded. The bagging film is easily removed. The mesh and peel ply required a bit more effort to remove, wearing gloves so that the sharp shards of resin do not cause any injury. Once the bagging stack has been removed, the deck itself can be demoulded from the temporary mould.

Using the original card template, the deck can be marked out with a marker pen before being cut out with a jigsaw. Using a Sanding block, the rough cut edge is then neatened and fettled to get the exact shape we wanted. The wheel wells are also sanded to shape. Finally the edges are finished off with 120 grit paper to finish them off.

The board was measured to locate the position for the trucks. Once happy with the position, the fixing holes were marked by pen and then drilled.

We measured and marked out the grip tape to fit the board including some grip tape stripes to fit in with the rest of the design. Then the tape was cut and fitted to the board in the normal way and the edges tidied and finished.

The final stage in completing the board is to fit and bolt on the trucks in the pre-drilled holes. Once secured, the skate board is complete.