10 Ways to Customize a Fingerboard

There are several easy and inexpensive ways to customize a standard tech deck fingerboard.

1.Paint Deck: One of the easiest things to do is get a piece of sand paper or an emery board and lightly scratch of the image on the fingerboard deck. After the deck is smooth and the old graphic is removed,acrylic paint can be applied.

2.Reshape Deck: A standard finger skateboard can be reshaped using a heat source. First remove the grip tape then lightly heat the deck making the plastic soft. Using your fingers bend and shape the board to create higher kicks, and curves.

3.Paint the Trucks: Painting the trucks is a great way to customize a fingerboard and make it really stand out. Take the top and bottom trucks apart, lightly sand them. Carefully paint all parts of the truck except for the threaded portion where the wheels attach.

4. Paint Bolts/Screws: Painting the micro screws and tiny bolts is often over looked on custom fingerboards.The tiny parts can be painted by tying them to a piece of thread and dipping them into the desired paint color.

5. Dye Wheels: The wheels that come with tech decks can be dyed using regular fabric dyes. Follow the manufacturers instructions for using the dye. But leave the wheels in for longer than is suggested to insure a brighter color.

6. Change Wheels: Anybody serious about customizing their fingerboard will eventually look into getting new wheels. Completely custom after market wheels can be bought that feature high tech micro ball bearing that increase the speed.

7. Add Risers: Risers are the small plastic pieces that sit under the bottom of the truck. Adding risers can increase the pop of the board making tricks easier.

8. Change Bushings: Tech decks come with hard plastic bushings that do not allow for much give. Soft PVC bushings can be found in a variety of colors and add a great customized look.

9. Add Pivot Cups: Pivot cups are used when the contact between the the kingpin on the top truck and the master hole on the bottom truck are not connecting. The pivot cup covers the gap between the two and holds the truck firmly together. They come in a variety of colors.

10.Custom Grip Tape: customizing the grip tape on a fingerboard is easy. Using a pencil draw out a design on the paper side of the tape. Cut of the design arranging different colors to form different patterns.