There doesn’t seem to be a better way of starting off this European blog of Roarockit Skateboard, other than having the pleasure to introduce a board builder from Madrid.
Andrés De Marco approached board building some two years ago after months of acquiring knowledge from articles, tutorials and forum threads everywhere.
“I started long boarding late in life, unfortunately, some 2 years ago (at 37). Almost immediately I got interested in building decks, even tho’ I’ve never considered myself gifted for handwork (much the contrary).”
Funnily enough, his first build was with the Roarockit technology and materials, ordered all the way from Canada, so we asked him how he had come across it and what he thought of it.
“I first read about Roarockit at Silverfish Longboarding forums. When approaching my first build it was the logical choice, even tho’ it was going to be expensive (they only delivered material from Canada back then)”.
“First of all it helped me succeed in building something to be proud of with my hands, quite a task for me, believe me. I still remember the first 2 veneers I pressed for my first deck. I was amazed. That deck was poorly designed but it still stands abuse nowadays, and the tools proved essential in allowing me to both evolve my work and get a deeper knowledge of what I’m doing and how to achieve it”.
So where has board building taken him?
We always love to hear what builders are up to, so we asked and this is what he said.
“Altho’ I sell some boards here and there I don’t do this for a living. So I can put an accent in doing stuff I’m happy with and can stand behind. I even stopped offering dropthrus because I wasn’t happy with the routing (some nasty breakage incidents included). Will only resume once (and if) I perfect both my methods and tools so I have something consistent to offer. There’s no dishonour in being honest and telling you to go look elsewhere if I can’t do it right. I’m mostly lazy so I want things to be easy, consistent, clean and straightforward, no messy procedures.”
Roarockit EU: What are your future projects?
Andrés: “I’m venturing into some hybrid layup paths (BB+maple, BB+glass+maple) and some more “techy” kind of builds (tub drops, pockets). I see myself as an artisan wannabe, so far an apprentice I’m definitely not into the boutique kind of market, I aim to offer simple decent decks in different materials and flex choices at a reasonable price. I’m a great fan of AmWood and Drang. Their “standard line + choices” approach at affordable prices makes great sense to me. I try to systematize and optimize my work to achieve such a kind of result (but at an insignificant scale). That’s my utopia nowadays, I really think a fair price for a longboard deck shouldn’t go beyond, say, 150€, I see no reason for asking more (unless you have to feed a huge marketing department).”
Roarockit EU: What makes your boards so unique?
Andrés: “I don’t know really. They’re imperfect so, in a way, that’s unique I guess. Truth be told, I don’t know of any builder here in Spain that you can talk to directly (or meet skating the city), exchange ideas about what you want, and get it for 100 or 120€. But then again, I can’t compare myself to anything remotely serious, this is just me, in my 12m2 workshop (where I melt in summers and freeze in winters), simply having fun with some wood.”
Andrés has made a number of fabulous boards which you can find on his website at http://www.godblesslongboards.com/
Be sure to check them out!