Nor'Easter Longboards - Company Profile

We become skaters in the mid 70's, and we were fortunate enough to be a part of skating's heyday. Those were the days when we couldn't wait for that next issue of Skateboarder….Tony Alva and the Z-boys ruled...skateparks cost 1.50 per hour...Zero Gravity skatepark had the world's largest halfpipe in Cambridge, Mass...and Trackers, G&S and Kryptos became the popular gear.

Using the Band-Saw to prime the shape for the router pass (above).

After a long hiatus from skating, we got back into it in the late 90's. In 2001 we began to design boards, and came up with the Nor'easter Cutaway Carver, a 46" Baltic Birch cruiser. The word "Nor'easter" is 1850's Mariner lingo describing the typical winter storms in which the winds are from the northeast ("nor'east") and which rake the east coast from the Carolinas to Maine. These storms can do as much damage as a hurricane.

Using a router table and template eliminates alot of sanding work (above).

Smoothing out the edges on a disc sander (above).

Customers were thrilled with the Cutaway Carver and all decks sold out, But people also wanted concave, kick, more plies for heavier riders, etc...but how to build a deck with kicktail and concave? We needed to research the manufacturing process of building decks with a hydraulic press and multi-ply deck construction. This was not an easy task, as certain info is not available. As opposed to shipping off our design and having an established company press our decks, we decided to press the boards ourselves. The result was a Dake 50 ton press, 4 feet wide, a custom order. A concrete mold had to be made to shape the deck. We used 700lbs of 5000lb steel reinforced mix to withstand the pressure. 4 types of plies (long grain core Maple, crossband Maple, long grain face Maple, and Formica) are used to construct the deck.

It was soooo cool….pressing that first deck…it worked the first time. Pays to do the homework….All of the above was a lot of hard work, but the deck that came from it was worth it…the Fantail Carver.

Maple and Formica (or Arborite) plys (above).

The press adds a whole new dimension to board construction (above).

Our decks are designed and pressed in house. A special adhesive is applied to each ply, and 44 tons of pressure is used to form the deck; this figures to 166 lbs per square inch. The glue is forced into the wood fiber by the pressure, creating a powerful bond, It then cold cures for 5 days before we can begin shaping it. Occasionally, a deck is sacrificed to check the bond. A table router follows a template to create the shape, belt/disc sanders remove any imperfections, hand sanders complete the shaping/smoothing process, and the clear coat is added as the final step.

The Fantail Carver has been tested extensively at Rye Airfield, Skater Island, (R.I.P), the infamous Mohawk Trail, and just about any hill/bank we could skate. The Formica bottom has proved to be a durable alternative to other materials, mills easily, and is readily available. The wood we use is Hard Rock Maple from the Great Lakes Region of Western N.Y.

Using a palm-sander to do the finishing shape adjustments (above).

We have customers in several different countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Sweden, the UK, and of course, the U.S. The Fantail Carver (and any future designs) are Designed, Glued, Pressed, shaped and sealed at our shop in New England using only power tools and a single hydraulic press. We do not mass produce our boards. Visit us online at www.noreasterlongboards.com

 

-Brad, Nor'Easter Longboards

Nor'Easter Longboards is based out of Massecheusetts, USA. Visit their website at www.noreasterlongboards.com for more information.