Thread: Canadian Rock Maple Veneer/Ply

Hey Marcus, Im in a similar situation to you - Im abt to post abt skateboards. I work for a large company that makes staircases, and we have suppliers that can supply everything from hoop pine to ebony. Ill get some names and numbers and get back to you mate.
Cheers, toon

If you are building here you are probably better of researching local spicies for their properties. Spotted gum is prety funky in the springyness department.
cheers

What Soundman said is very SOUND advice, the man knows good wood, cause in the bend and return stakes combined with strength as a close secondary consideration, spotty is second only to US hickory IMHO, if it was strength & then bendyness reverse the order.

Of all the boards in all the world, why the heck would he want to change a winning formula and change from canadian hard rock maple?

they know what works and what dont.

my sons a skateboarder I took him to watch the Globe world Cup this year and he got to skate the coarse,had a BBQ with a whole lot of Pro skaters as well he loved it.
the things we do for our kids

Contact Briggs Veneers in Sydney (02 97327888) as they bring in Maple specifically for this purpose......approx., size is 240x890x1.5mm.

Why would you change?
It might just perform better.
It will probably be a hell of a lot cheaper.
Get a point of difference in the market.
get a different look.
Get a warm feeling knowing that an ausie material might just work as well if not better than something the yanks think is the best because its theirs.

The yanks don't like to change anything thats why the unisaw dosn't have a riving knife and delta didn't invent the besimier fence.

cheers

Originally Posted by soundman

...........The yanks don't like to change anything thats why the unisaw dosn't have a riving knife and delta didn't invent the besimier fence...............

It's also why you can read articles about small cabinet makers over there cutting up sheet goods on a table saw instead of a panel saw, or why they use 1/4" increments to specify their hardwoods (ie" 4/4 = 1" nominal size).

Mick

plus they complain about paying the lowest price for fuel in the worlds biggest cars... seppo's

I look forward to getting the names or any info. Cheers
[email protected]

I'm with you there Soundman!

Why do we listen to the Yanks so much? It's about time we had confidence in our own abilities. Just coz they say they are the best doesn't mean sh%#!

Thanks for this info - much appreciated.

Originally Posted by soundman

Why would you change?
It might just perform better.
It will probably be a hell of a lot cheaper.
Get a point of difference in the market.
get a different look.
Get a warm feeling knowing that an ausie material might just work as well if not better than something the yanks think is the best because its theirs.

The yanks don't like to change anything thats why the unisaw dosn't have a riving knife and delta didn't invent the besimier fence.

cheers

Actually the yanks did design and produce the besimer (biesemeyer) fence, Delta just bought the rights to it. General in Canada also make the Biesemeyer under the General name for a lot less.

Very few saws have riving knifes in North America. I've never seen one installed on saw in any shop. Cheap saws come with them but most everyone takes them off cause they're not needed. I guess woods here twist and bend far more when cut making such a knife necessary but that's not the case in NA.

If an aussie wood was able to compare to maple for this sort of lamination work there would most likely be some retail examples out there. Being a "stringy wood" doesn't mean it would work in lamnations such as skate boards. Same reason why red gum isn't used in cricket bats, but I bet a few have tried. If I were making one I'd listen to those who had the board building knowledge and use what they recommended. If after everything and I'd learned from my mistakes... and I wanted to experiment, maybe some local woods would be a consideration.

Originally Posted by Ian007

Of all the boards in all the world, why the heck would he want to change a winning formula and change from canadian hard rock maple?

they know what works and what dont.

my sons a skateboarder I took him to watch the Globe world Cup this year and he got to skate the coarse,had a BBQ with a whole lot of Pro skaters as well he loved it.
the things we do for our kids

Bear in mind that the majority of board makers are US based. Theyve used Maple, and built boards using horizontal laminations for years. Things are changing towards v-lam (as theyve done with snowboards), so technology changes, and ppl look at change. Im in the process of building a longboard, and Id love nowt better than to be bombing hills with Aussie timber underneath me. Cue Advance Australia Fair...
Marcus, my boss wasnt in today (had to stick close to the ceramics...), but I'll quiz him on decent suppliers, and post what I can. This is a US forum, and dedicated to longboards, but may be of some use? http://www.silverfishlongboarding.com/forum/index.php

Cheers, toon

I would love if we had an aussie timber that would stand up to the punishment that these decks do.

There are many that have tried to make a board from other timbers as far as I know all have failed.

while I do not profess to know everything about making decks I did spend a long time asking the very Questions you guys are now asking re skate decks and making them, it always seemed to be that the best timber is the canadian hard rock maple.

Please feel free to prove me wrong.

Cheers Ian