The Process: Step by Step

Die Cutting
All our base graphics are die cut. Base material begins as a sheet of plastic. In order to create a die cut base graphic, each component (letter or shape) is cut from an appropriately colored piece of base material. The same shapes are cut into the base or background color. Each piece is then put together much like a puzzle. All the pieces are held together with tape while the board is being pressed. In some cases we use a combination of dye-sublimation and die cutting techniques.

Base Cutting
This simply involves cutting the base to the appropriate shape. This is done with a router and template or on our cnc with a drag knife.

Edge Bending
The tip and tail portion of the edge must be bent to fit the shape in the tip and tail.

Edge Tacking
The edge and base material are pre-assembled to produce a sub assembly that goes into the board.

Core Pulling
Most of our standardized shapes can be produced in large block form. This block can be sliced, much like you would slice a loaf or bread, on our sawmill. When we run out of a particular size of core we will make between 5 and 15 cores of that size and put them in stock. If a core is in stock we simply pull it off the rack.

Core Fabrication
We produce cores in two different ways. Our standardized shapes are produced in block form. The block is laminated from ¾ in lumber in a press. We can then shape the block to have the sidecut and width of the particular board it will make and laminate the sidewall to the block. That block is sliced, much like you slice a loaf of bread, on our sawmill. The core is tapered on special planer and some finishing is done to the sidewall material before it can be pressed. If we are out of a particular size of core we will typically make 5 to 15 cores and put them in stock for later use.

If we are making a non standard shape, such as a custom or a previously produced custom, we will do so on our cnc router. This involves shaping a core blank on the cnc, gluing the sidewall to the side of the core and then tapering the core on the cnc.

Insertion of Inserts
Before the board is pressed, the inserts are pressed into the holes that were drilled in the core.

Topsheet Assembly
Our standard topsheets are quite different from the rest of the industry. Our topsheets consist of 3 to 4 different components. The primary component is a layer of poly/cotton fabric. We apply spot graphics with a special material that is fused to the fabric with heat. This second graphic component is die cut with a drag knife machine. The name and specifications that we print on top of carve boards is applied with dye sublimation. This is a heat transfer process, which dyes the polyester fibers in the fabric material. The final component is a durable rubberized layer that is laminated over all of these components when the board is actually pressed.

Most of the industry uses a dye sublimated topsheet. This is a layer of polyester plastic. The graphic is applied with a special ink and a heat transfer process. This is the technique we use for some custom graphics.

Glass Cutting
This is exactly what it sounds like. We have to cut the fiberglass sheets to length before the board is pressed.

Layup & Press
This is the final assembly process. It involves wetting the fiberglass sheets with epoxy and assembling all the components in the correct order. The stack of materials is then put in a heated press that shapes the board and the epoxy cures in about 20 minutes.

Finish
Finishing involves a number of different operations. We first remove all the flash (excess material and epoxy) with a band saw. The edges have to be cleaned up and ground to a 90 degree angle on a side grinding machine. We then shape the sidewall so that it angles slightly back from the edge. The inserts are located and then opened on a drill press. We sand the top edge of the board to remove burs and round it over.

Base Grind
This is a common tuning operation. It is, however, quite different at the manufacturing stage. The bottom of the board has epoxy and tape on it. This must be removed and the base must be ground flat. We start with very aggressive belts to help remove the material that is stuck to the bottom of the board and work our way down to a 150 grit belt for the final passes.

Stone Grind
After the belt grind, we carefully finish each board with a factory stone grind to ensure optimal base glide quality.

Demask & Bag
The board comes out of the press with a layer of masking on the topsheet. This protects the top when the board is being finished. When this tape is removed, the board is inspected for the last time before it is put in a bag.

Package & Ship
This is just what it sounds like. We put the board and any other items ordered in a box, process the customer's credit card and ship the board.