The art of putting together your skateboard.

When I was younger, I had never appreciated the art of setting up my skateboard. Whenever I bought a new skateboard at the local shop, I usually handed the new setup to the shop guys to put together. While waiting for them to finish, I would either watch the skate videos or look through the magazines. It killed time, and once the setup was completed, I left the shop with a brand new skateboard. I was certain that the cost of labor was added to the final price of the skateboard, so why should I give a damn about letting them do the work? But as I got older, I came to realize that doing my own setup is an integral part of skateboarding, and the process became even zen *-like in some ways. I had always believed that skateboarding mirrors the artistic qualities of the individual, and even something like setting up the skateboard - which could be understandably viewed as commonplace and burdensome - is art.

After purchasing the deck and the grip tape *, I took all the necessary gears to my basement, where it was nice and quiet. I loved the quiet ambiance because it allowed me to concentrate on making the setup perfect. The first thing that needed to be done was preparing the grip tape. I peeled the black grip tape off from its lining, and carefully placed it over the deck, making sure that it covered the entire surface. Back then in the days, skaters would make individual patterns on the grip tape - sometimes giving a zig-zag appearance, or a cut that left the middle exposed, or countless other variations. For me, I had always preferred to have the entire deck covered, thus allowing my feet to always have a sense of grip to the skateboard. As strange as it sounded, it was more "personal" that way. Now that the grip tape was ready, I then carefully pressed the tape onto the deck with my entire palm, going from top to bottom in equal increment. This was needed to prevent air bubbles from forming within the grip tape space. I always enjoyed that feeling of new grip tape with its course surface, and it instantly revealed the concavity of the skateboard's surface once thoroughly pressed upon.

Once the grip tape was completely pressed onto the neck, I then used a filing stick to rub along the edge of the skateboard. I repeated this at least two more times, as this was necessary for the next step: to trim the edge of the skateboard with a razor blade. Trimming was straightforward: I made a small incision in the middle of grip tape with the razor blade until it reached the wood. Then with a gliding motion, the razor blade went along the edge that was "primed" by the filing stick, which made it easier for the razor blade to cut through. Trimming was usually done with minimum pauses to maintain the integrity of the grip tape contour, but sometimes it was necessary to go back and trim any extra grip tape that was left sticking out. Once the grip tape was trimmed off, the skateboard was ready to be fitted with the other equipments.

When I first started skating, it was common for skaters to be creative with designing things on the grip tape. In addition to the usual graffiti tags and messages regarding which crew skated better and which professionals "ruled," there were some impressive design patterns drawn with paint markers and spray paints. Sometimes the design rivaled the underlying skateboard graphics themselves; and sometimes designs were created through different colored grip tapes, which took a considerable amount of time to do. I, on the other hand, followed the philosophy that the setup should be maintained as simple as possible, and that art through skating is more importantly reflected by the style of skating itself.

Now that the extra grip tape was trimmed off, the next step was to use a screw driver or a bolt and poked it through the truck holes on the skateboard. I usually poked each hole twice: once going through the underside, and a second time going through the taped side. The trucks * and wheels * had either been assembled before hand or recycled from the previous setup. If this were a new setup, the truck and wheel units would be bolted on quickly. The part I loved was when each truck finally got tightened onto the skateboard, as the setup looked almost complete. The pattern of tightening the nuts and bolts was usually done in a diagonal way, so that the trucks could be flatly placed - minimizing any lift in the truck at the opposite end if two bolts were tightened at the same side.

Standing on the setup would give me an idea of how much to tighten the truck pads. If I were to lean to either side and the skateboard would rubbed against the edge of the wheels, this meant that this was too loose for me; and further tightening of the trucks was required. On the other hand, that the skateboard would lift up when pressure was applied to the opposite side meant that the trucks were too tight and needed to be loosened. Now this did not mean that the trucks were perfectly tightened to my likings, as the only way to determine this was to roll around on the skateboard. But it did give me a fairly accurate prediction on how much my skateboard would turn when I rode on it. This variation would exist for all skaters, and each setup would apply differently.

Even after the setup was completed, it would take several skate sessions * to finally make the last adjustment. After all, my skateboard should reflect the way I skated, and every facet of it was important, whether it was how tight my trucks were, the length of separation from the wheel base to the deck, or the quality of the grip tape cut. That is the reason why I do all the setup myself now - because the skateboard is a mirror of me.

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