Beginning skaters are usually content to pick up a complete, pre-assembled, skateboard off the shelf and get practicing. As your skill and style evolves, however, you’ll start to notice that standard boards are missing something. Maybe you need better handling on your slalom curves; maybe you want a little more cushion when you grind the rails, or perhaps you are finding your aluminum trucks have a shorter lifespan than your relationships.

Building a custom board is a task which will demand an intimate knowledge of the design and options available for your deck, truck, and wheels. When planning out how to make a skateboard, you will need to think about not only the type of surfaces you tend to skate on now and your favorite moves, but also the terrain you plan to explore on your journey to the ultimate adrenaline rush.

The skateboard deck you choose will largely depend on whether you spend most of your time practicing tricks, coasting curvy slaloms, racing downhill, or just getting around town. For tricks, you’ll want a deck with a deep concave shaping, with raised kicks for ollies and flips. Downhill skaters prefer a more streamlined longboard that picks up speed as it cuts air. If you’ve seen footage of Jamie Thomas breaking right through his board while attempting his infamous Leap of Faith you’ll understand how the actual strength of your skateboard can save your bones and you might look for a few extra ply in your deck wood.

The trucks you select while planning how to make a skateboard will be a choice among subtle variances, balancing weight against durability. Some skaters are fanatical about reducing the weight of their boards, and look to shave every ounce of mass by ordering cast aluminum. Other skaters, especially those on a budget, go for stronger trucks made of titanium alloys or pewter. Skateboard tricksters might also consider impact dispersion systems with thick rubber shock pads available from such manufacturers as Phantom Trucks. Those with a few bucks to spend might like to bling up their trucks with 24k gold, but don’t expect those to stay pretty for very long if you do a lot of grinding.

Most skateboard wheels are made of rubber, specifically urethane blends of varying hardness. The latest technology offers wheels of dual texture, with soft inners for improved support and tough, rock-hard surfaces. You’ll need to sort out the best wheel profile for your needs, whether flat and fat or tight and hard. And of course design; some of the most dynamic artwork in the skateboard world appears on wheels, which can be neon bright or devil dark, puffed up and phatty like the tires on a low-ride Cadillac, or translucent and tight like a lollipop.

Building your board from the basic components represents a step forward in your evolution as a skater. No longer merely a blind consumer riding someone else’s idea of the perfect vehicle, creating a custom board frees you to be the master of your own destiny. And when inches count, ounces count more and split-seconds mean the difference between a smooth landing and a rough slam, you’ll want as much control over your equipment as humanly possible.

The skateboard deck is the very heart of the skating experience. It is the part of the board that the skater is most intimate with, depending on every curve and twist for the deck to be there for you. Contact with the skateboard deck defines success or failure: missing the deck means bailing, much to the amusement of your so-called friends.

Skaters therefore take their deck very seriously. More than just a place to plant your feet, the skateboard deck has become a billboard to broadcast your musical taste, favorite skate paraphernalia brands and personal philosophy by applying stickers or simply painting tags on deck.

The modern skateboard deck evolved from surf boards in the 1950’s, pioneered by inventive wavehounds who wanted a way to fly dry between high tides. Typical of the laid-back, anarchic subculture of the day, there was no standard for shapes and sizes until industry entered the picture in the early 1970’s, when the first widely distributed manufactured boards started to appear.

Until manufactured skateboards become common in the early 1970’s, skaters literally had to build their own boards, using recycled roller skate wheels and whatever plank of wood struck their fancy. Some old-schoolers still wax nostalgic for the time when just to skate at all you needed enough ingenuity, commitment and courage to construct your own board and then trust your body’s safety to you handiwork.

Canadian Maple is the material of choice for modern skateboard decks. Each deck is made of 5-9 ply (usually 7) of the premium lumber. Recent designs using aluminum and synthetic materials may be lighter or more durable, but for most serious skaters, nothing but maple will do.

The shape of the deck will depend on the degree of your experience and daring. A deeper concave, with steeper nose and tail kicks, allows the expert more precision, power and speed when executing tricks. The noob will want a more shallow concave shape, which allows more room to recover from errors.

Skaters of all skill levels may choose a longboard deck with a flat nose for utility transportation. With a more aerodynamic streamlined shape than trick boards, the longboard is best for getting around on a schedule. Prior to the revolutionary concave design of inventor Richard Stevenson, who created the kicktail, the longboard was the only style available on store shelves.

The length and width of skateboard decks are, of course, also critical to the performance a skateboard offers. Most street and vert decks are between 7.5 and 8.25 inches wide, although length can vary a great deal, from as short as six inches for the specialty “shoe-board” up to 46 inches for a true sidewalk-surfing experience. As you would probably imagine, the term, “longboard”, is generally reserved for decks 35 inches or longer.

Choosing a skateboard deck which is right for you is largely a matter of personal taste. Whatever deck you choose, you can be sure that your choice will be with you through every ollie and slalom-and not there on every bail, sack and slam.