Picture 11: Glue the block into place (make sure that no glue leaks into the Tee Nut. Picture 10: this is how the nut on the other side looks like. Picture 8 & 9: Turn the deck to the other side and drill a larger hole so that the Tee Nut rests flush to the deck (appr. Mark the board where the eye of the blade is. Picture 7: Assemble the set up: blade and hinge. Work accurately! Picture 6: Cut the board in two (at 45 cm form the nose) and lay it on a large flat surface. Use a chisel to cut a trench so that the hinge rests flat on the deck when assembled. Lay the blade on the small block that you will use later and draw a horizontal line. Cut parallel to the board, approximately 1 cm deep. Picture 3, 4 & 5: The rear section of the blade (that acts like a torsion bar) has to be inserted in the rear caster block. Reverse the hinge and insert the nut and bolt. Picture 1 & 2: Disassemble the hinge and hammer out the pin and cap (compare to the picture in step 1). Picture 9: The distance between blocks is 48 cm.

Picture 7 & 8: Don't worry about the length, they will stick trough the deck and will be cut / sanded later. Apply large force while the glue is curing. Picture 6: Insert and glue the dowell pins in the block. The location of the front block is 8cm from the tip of the board, the location of the rear block is is 56 cm from the tip. Picture 5: Ensure that the block is accurately alligned with the central axis of the deck. RipStik I Gicle 11x14 Print by Steve Shook Made from his RipStik deck. Picture 4: Add dowel centre pins to tag te deck. The holes shouldn't be closer to the edge of the block than 1 cm. Make sure that the holes do not i nterfere with the screws of the casters. Picture 3: Drill 6 mm holes for the wooden dowel pins to connect to the deck (1 cm deep). Picture 2: Pre-drill the screw holes for the casters (smaller than the size of the screws). The casters I use, require a 6 x 6 cm surface on the block. I used two wooden legs of a chair as this gave me an additional conical shape, but you can use straight blocks just the same. Therefore you need two blocks that are cut at this angle (use a miter saw). The finish is similar in texture to silk screened art and the colors pop just as hard.Picture 1: The wheels need to be angled at approximately 30 to 40 degrees. These prints are done via Giclée printing for a more precise look. My art technique is rooted in my years as a silk screener… I design and separate my color layers in much the same way as some of my favorite skate decks.

The board that served as a model for this artwork is no longer quite this pristine, but I feel I immortalized it just before it got thrashed (as it was meant to be). The Rip Stik is one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous graphics of the time and place, so I took a photo of my current cruiser and went to work on it in my signature fashion. When Brand-X was relaunched a couple years back, no one was more stoked than I, so when the reissues kept coming, I knew I had to capture some of my stoke in an art print.

I am a print artist, mostly known for renderings of bygone punk and indie clubs of my wayward youth. From these roots, the culture I proudly still call my own was formed and Kryptonics, Brand-X and Toxic were all a big part of it all! To watch them kill the terrain at the Ocean Bowl pushed me to become a better skater myself. I got my first Brand-X board in 1984… it was my first brand-new deck ever! The sickness of Bernie Tostenson’s X-Con graphic and the eye-popping colors made me weak in the knees… I had to have it! Growing up near Ocean City, MD in my formative years, the Atlantic Skates guys were my heroes. Paper size: 11' x 14', which fits standard frames found at your local craft store, frame shop or IKEA! (frame NOT included) Paper stock is Moab Entrada Rag Natural - a warm white, 100% cotton, slightly textured, smooth fine art surface. The finish is similar in texture to silk screened art like on our decks and the colors pop just as hard. Made from his RipStik deck using a technique called Giclée. RipStik I Giclée 11”x14” Print by Steve Shook

Xboard ripstik