How to Paint a Skateboard Deck

Painting on a skateboard deck is known as a great summer project idea. You will be pleased to see the fantastic artwork you can see hanging on the skateboard shop wall. If you need a unique design, you need to order to get a custom-painted skateboard. Otherwise, there is a chance to get the same plan as others. But a custom design indeed can cost a lot of money as well. And at the same time, purchasing multiple brand-name skateboard decks is cost-prohibitive. If you want to give a little bit of effort, planning, and patience, you can create a unique skateboard deck for your own.

Step-1:Pre-Project Prep

Needed Equipment:

  • Blank skateboard deck
  • paper/cardstock
  • Frisket for making your stencils
  • paints – Acrylic or Spray
  • Paintbrushes
  • face mask to cover nose and mouth
  • varnish to seal your design
  • disposable gloves
  • blue tape
  • table or surface covers
  • apron or old clothes
  • enclosed area for spray painting
  • paper towels
  • Board mounts
  • dedicated trash can

Setup the Working Area and Dress Properly:

  • The painting process can create a considerable amount of snow dust, and the spray paint can easily spatter to the surrounding area or over your clothes. Find out a well-ventilated area; otherwise, the surroundings will be very toxic.
  • The truck and its parts connected with the wheels on the board decks; must loosen the four truck bolts on both trucks. Use a wrench to remove the bolts. After that, pull the bolts free and keep your board’s two trucks in a suitable place.
  • Turn your truck-less board on the surface so that the top of the deck is facing down. Now wear protective gear, gloves, and glass and use an electric sander with 40-grit sandpaper. And then firmly remove the original design from the board. After that, you need to use 150-grit sandpaper to give smooth surface finishing to your board. It would help if you kept patience for this process because it will take more than 20 minutes to finish the job. Don’t give uneven pressure during sanding.
  • Use a stiff bristle brush for removing the remaining snow dust over the board; otherwise, your paintings will be irregular. Don’t use wire-bristle brushes; it will damage the smooth finishing of the board.
  • Use the carpenter’s grade wood filling paste to repair any visible damage to the board. Mix the paste and apply a generous amount of paste to each defect in the board.
  • Now again, use 150-grit sandpaper to smooth the repair area; and apply normal firm pressure during sanding. It will take less than 5— minutes to give smooth finishing.
  • It is the actual time to use painter’s tape to tape the sides and top of your board.

Step-2:Use Primer

Use an aerosol primer to get even applications. Before using the spray, first, shake it and follow the directions for your primer. After applying the first coating, you need to wait for the drying of the first layer. After that, put the second layer to get a better even surface. For an adequate prime coat, you need to shake almost for two minutes while using the aerosol spray. Let it give 30 minutes or more for drying completely. Always use an eye-protective glass and mask to avoid the toxic elements.

Again use 150-grit sandpaper for sanding your prime board again. Try to use firm pressure to ensure any clumps, bubbles, blisters, or other irregularities remove correctly. Keep it in your mind that doesn’t sand the primer until you can see the wood’s grain. Remove the remaining snow dust by using the bristle brush to get better finishing of color. For the final finishing, you may want to do a final pass over your board with a dampened lint or t-shirt. After that, let the board dry for the final touch.

For the final spray paint, wipe a tack coat on your primer to prevent your paint defects. This tack coat is a gentle application of a thinning agent that cleans the board’s prime wood. Take a wet and clean paper towel and rag with a small amount of your thinning agent, and that can run it along the dry and primed bottom of your board. Don’t touch the clean part of the board with your hands. For this process, you can use an old cotton t-shirt also.

Step-3:Conceiving the Design

First of all, you need a series of stencils to apply layers of paint to your board, and the unpainted areas left behind by your stencils will form the design of your board. Sketching out the procedure beforehand, you may make some mistakes while applying the paint. Take a rough paper and draw an irregular shape over your board’s deck to solve this problem. Then inside the deck and skate out your design. The beginners can use the tape to create different geometric design types like- squares, triangles, straight lines, rectangles, etc.

If you want to give three coatings of colors, you have to use three layers of the paint, and if you’re going to use four colors, you should do four layers as well. You should number each design according to the layer. For example, if you want the squares in your design to be green and plan on applying green color in the first layer inside each square of your selected design.

You don’t need to create your stencils if you make your design using tape over the board. But to do the more complicated design like arcs and squares, you have to do stencils. You can use many materials for making stencils like-  cardboard or rigid card stock, or mylar.

Step-4:Painting the Board

First of all, spray your base color upon which you will do your stencil designs. Try to use intense contrast colors like- white and black, where all other colors will be so prominent and look better. Spray the base color properly so the dack base will cover smoothly and evenly. You have to use the aerosol spray to get better finishing. So first, follow the instruction given with the spray. Shake it and maintain a desire distance before spraying.

Before moving to the next coat of paint, let the first coat dry. Sometimes it will take 24 hours or more to dry appropriately. Then apply the next layer soon to blend with the first layer together.

Let the two colors dry again, and then place the stencil with the base color tap. The gaps in your stencil and tape will paint the color of your text layer. Now spray the second layer over the entire bottom of the board to get the even applications.

Keep it in your mind that don’t apply another coating until the first layer dried completely. Once you do it, add more stencils or tap, spray the new layer, and do your desire design; after spraying, let the color dry and give enough time to dry entirely.

After the paint dried completely, give steady and firm pressure to pull your tap from the board. For doing this, you need to use tags you have left hanging off the edge of your board and sticking up from it to remove the tape easily and quickly.

Finally, give the board another 24 hours to dry completely and set for the final finishing. After that, you should use 220-grit sandpaper to sand lightly to get your finished paint job. In this way, you can get the finishing base without any irregularities over the board. Then use an old clean t-shirt or lint or fuzz-free rag to wipe the sawdust from the board.

Wait for another 15 minutes, and then remove the tape on your skateboard’s sides and top. Now finally, attach your trucks again, and your painting of a skateboard deck is complete.

However, this is the easiest way to color your favorite skateboard you need to use, especially during summer. All the necessary equipment you can get from the nearby hardware store can sometimes get some equipment in your home. So, keep some patience and maintain the above steps, and you will get a new-looking skateboard on your own.

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