Winter is a time where many people take to snowboarding as a sport. The sight of people skating in the snow is so satisfying to behold and even if you cannot skate, you will enjoy watching others do it. As a skater, your snowboard is a priceless tool you want to have by you when it is snowing and you need to burn some steam.
Have you ever been curious about the manufacturing process that is involved when making a snowboard? If yes, you will be excited to keep reading as we traveled to China to see the process for ourselves, and we have detailed it here for you.
We are going to look at how each part is crafted and the process involved in bringing them all into one piece.
The Base
We have decided to start from the base of the snowboard. The base is the framework on which the other parts of the snowboard will be built. It is usually made from two materials which are the white and black base material. A dye-cut is used to cut out the logo and letters from the black and white material, and they are fixed together like a jigsaw.
The Core
The core of the snowboard is a cutout from wood through a manufacturing process controlled by a computer. After this, the core is bonded to the sidewall and transferred to a grinder which shapes it into the dimensions that have been specified. Poplar is the wood from which the core is cut out, and this is the same wood used for making most snowboards.
The Glue
Since the different parts of the snowboard are created separately before joining together, you can tell that whatever is holding it together must be very powerful. The core determines the flex of the board, and therefore there are more flex in some than others. The flex is also influenced by the fiberglass that is used when designing it. The more the fiberglass layer, the stiffer the board.
Resin is used to cover the fiberglass layer completely. This resin serves as the glue that binds the different parts of the board strongly together. Due to the shiny nature of the resin, it brings out the beauty in the snowboard.
The Top Sheet
The top deck of a snowboard is created electronically using a digital printer. The printer is efficient in generating high-quality graphics, and it does it very quickly too.
Sandwich Press
The sandwich press is a machine that brings all the layers of the board together and joins them like a sandwich. The machine makes use of high pressure and hot air to do the sandwiching. The process takes about 15 minutes to be completed, during which the board will remain in the press all through.
After leaving the sandwich machine, the board is almost ready to hit the snow. There are, however, some things that you must do before that.
- The first process involves the cutting of excess materials from the board. This process is usually done manually using a bandsaw. An expert uses the saw to trace around the board’s edge.
- The second step is sanding, which is also done manually by an expert. Two sanding methods are usually employed when doing this are rough sanding and smooth sanding. The rough sanding is done first because it eliminates the excess material quickly. When it has been done satisfactorily, then the smooth sanding will make the already sanded surface smooth. At this stage the surface of the sanded area becomes level.
- The third process is the smoothening of the board’s base to make it glide freely in the snow. The smoothening is done on a grinder. This process is very thorough as the base is ground to be as smooth as possible.
- Finally, the tail of the board is cut with the help of a CNC machine. This is chosen for this process due to its precision, and this is needed as the board tail doesn’t have any edges.
The Final Masterpiece
After going through all the listed processes, your Snowboard is ready for snow surfing. The making of this beautiful work of art involves precious artistry and mastery. The cutting of the wood, framing, design, etc., shows the length that the manufacturer goes to make this winter leisure equipment available in the market. Next time you see hold a Snowboard, you should be able to appreciate the effort of the manufacturer.
