spydie vs. griptape -- ow!!!!

[clovisc]

had some fun today... my skateboard arrived, in pieces. i don't know how to skate at all, but i'm helping to create an environmentally-friendly community skatepark in an area with lots of drug problems, and NOTHING for youth to do... figured i better get a board and learn.

i had to put the grip tape on the deck myself... essentially a sheet of sandpaper with sticky stuff on the back. using the caly 3, i cut the extra grip tape off... a fair deal of cutting... and if that wasn't bad enough, i also cut out some designs in the middle of the deck, though i used my beater pacific SE for that.

wow -- those two knives got extremely scratched up!!! i mean -- whoa! i don't mind, because the caly 3 still going strong as anything, and did a great job... the pacific salt is so beat up anyway, you hardly notice... although it did reshape the tip a bit!!! :eek: getting all the sticky gunk and sand particles stuck to the serrated edges was a pain...

this thread SCREAMS for pictures, but unfortunately, i'm as bad as doc snubnose about this...

anyone else try to cut grip tape with a spydie?

[smcfalls13]

I tried that once...it wasn't pretty. Had pretty much the same thing you described. Only saving grace was I used a really crappy knife to cut it.

[zenheretic]

I tried that once...it wasn't pretty. Had pretty much the same thing you described. Only saving grace was I used a really crappy knife to cut it.

I am not sure using a crappy knife for just about any cutting task is a saving grace. :p

[Dr. Snubnose]

I use a scissor whenever cutting grit-tape...saves the blades...but put some of that stuff on the clips for a very positive feel and grip...all my spyderco's have grit tape (3M) on the clips...sometimes I put a little on my wooden training knives as well as some kydex sheaths when I use a fixed blade for pocket carry....it just gives your thumb a little extra push power to draw the knife from the sheath from inside the pocket...works great...Doc :D

[clovisc]

well, cutting grip tape certainly is not something i expect to be doing again any time soon...!!!!!

[charge]

I used to skate but I dont know which would hurt more, Scratching up a Caly 3 or the the hundered times I twisted my ankles over :D

Good luck with the skatepark. Wish I would have had one around when I skated

Take it easy,
charge

[butch]

cutting from the back of the tape should ahve saved you some, sorta like cutting sand paper from the back

[smcfalls13]

I am not sure using a crappy knife for just about any cutting task is a saving grace. :p

It wasn't a dull knife, just a knife I wouldn't mind messing up. I like my fingers, I've grown a bit attached to them.

[Zenith]

If you whant to cut the decks griptape with not much effort all you do is stick the tape on and takr a peace of steel. scrape along the edge where the tape and deck meets. That will take of exess grip and cut on that white line that forms when its scraped. Use to work in skate shop.

[Left Hand Path]

clovisc - that is great that you are helping create a skatepark for your community. Skateboarding is awesome!

I have been into skateboarding for a lot longer than I have used Spydercos, and it was cool to see both mentioned in this thread.

Good advice from Zenith.

[Echo63]

you should just apply skateboard tape to the whole board
then take a crappy old coarse file and try to bevel the edge of the board that has the tape stuck to it
the file "cuts" the edge perfectly and smooths the join between tape and deck so it is harder to peel back off (which is a good thing until you actually want to take it back off)

sorry to hear about the caly3 though

[clovisc]

yea -- i know nothing about skateboards... the last couple days have been "training wheel" days. remembering how to skate around on the thing, practicing tracks in the grass where the board isn't going to roll away from me and leave me on my backside, and then unsuccessfully attempting to merge the concepts together, so that i can actually do tricks while moving.

to be quite honest, i enjoyed giving the caly 3 a workout... :D still isn't NEARLY as scratched up as my SE pacific has been for years...

[Zeppelin]

There are some things better left to scissors as bad as I hate to admit it. I commend what you're doing. I know from experience that a lot of trouble young people get into is caused by boredum, especially in small towns and rural areas.

[clovisc]

I commend what you're doing. I know from experience that a lot of trouble young people get into is caused by boredum, especially in small towns and rural areas.

well, at least someone does... :D

a majority of community leaders suggested... or outright said... that working in the community the skatepark is to be in is "hopeless," and that i'm wasting my time. the town spends so much money trying to contain its drug problem... why "manage" drug use when you can stop it from occurring in the first place? we're naming the park after a 14-year-old who overdosed about 2 weeks ago.

the project is going pretty well... it took a couple hard kicks in the pants to get it going, but now the town is behind it and approving it, a number of organizations, agencies, and businesses are interested, the local community planning/engineering firm is helping out, we have kids excited and working with me to draw ideas for me to take to a professional designer, an upcoming website, free teeshirts and stickers for promotion... for the last seven years, it had been nothing but a stagnant idea. should be a boost for local businesses, too... will increase tourism... and we're going to encourage local artists... whether fine arts, tattoos, or graphic design... to come and spray-paint it... kinda an ever-changing artwork, always in progress... :D