Shapeboarders is a DIY skateboard maker’s resource created by Rhett Simkins and his sons, Elijah and Noah.
In the Spring of 2024 I began building skateboards at home to save money on boards, spend time with my boys, and teach them useful skills.
After pressing and shaping our own boards with a homemade press we just couldn’t keep from dreaming up new designs, better techniques and building processes, and of course, testing them out in the streets! Soon after, making boards for friends and family turned our little hobby into a quasi-business and the creation of the VESSEL skateboards brand.
We learned that skateboards that are handmade by humans feel better to skate and last longer than factory-made junk from overseas. There is also incredible freedom in being able to customize the shape of the nose and tail along with the perfect deck width and wheelbase. Add your own graphics and you’re good to go! The ability to test out your design and tweak it to your liking is a freedom that I never had as a kid skating boards off the shelf.
Skateboarding has always been about having fun and expressing yourself in your own style and look. In the old days you had a limited selection of shapes and graphics that you could customize with stickers and the perfect grip tape job, but today there is no end to what you can create. If you can dream it you can build it!
Do you want a twin tail? Sweet. Make one! Do you want a classic ’80s shredder shape but with 2000s concave? Go for it! Do you just want to cruise but you hate that most cruisers are tiny? Make a big one! Once you start shaping your own decks you never go back to the big brands.
How do you get started? Where do you begin?
We are here to be your guide and inspiration to start! Our passion to provide resources to both beginner and veteran shapers drives us to continue to refine our own techniques. The only thing better than shaping your own board is the blessing of being able to share that with someone else. And what a joy it has been to do this as a family!
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our progress and learn as we learn. We will be posting helpful tutorials and hacks as we go. You can also download our templates and start experimenting with new shapes.
Thanks for visiting Shapeboarders.com. Enjoy the journey and have some fun as we shape some boards and those who ride them!
-Rhett Simkins