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About Us.  It all started as a simple weekend project. I had ridden skateboards in the 1970s but in 2005 saw an article on longboards on the web. That might have been the end of it but just a week or so later my son wanted to "build something". Thinking back to what I had seen on the web, and looking at my sons sad broken skateboard there was an obvious answer.
We've been making longboards since. The first board was a crudely cut out piece of standard 17mm pine ply. We quickly realised we could better and so we had another try, and then another. It quickly became a bit of an obsession. The shed is now full of boards in a variety of shapes and timbers. Some worked and some didn't. But somewhere along the way we learned a lot. We even sold a few. Someone even sold one of our boards on Trademe and passed it off as his own work. I guess thats a sort of a compliment. As each of the refinements came along we realised that we were making something special. And so Bombardier Longboards was born.About the Decks.  In order to accomplish some of the shapes and curves that we wanted we had to build a press. At the same time we started to make the boards thinner by experimenting with different types of timbers.
We continue to try different plys but for now we now use, mostly, a combination of Meranti and Gaboon. The Meranti, which is used top and bottom, is relatively flexible but hard wearing. Once sanded and coated with polyurethane it provides a beautiful grain and warm colours. The Gaboon is a hardwood that provides a stable core. Overall the boards provide a nice stable platform with enough flex to provide a smooth ride. Each board is almost entirely hand made. The only power tools we use are a jig saw to cut out the basic shape and a drill to bore the mounting holes. All of the shaping, sanding and poyurethane is done by hand. The deck is finished with silica sand grip. This provides sure footing while still allowing the grain to show through.  This is not to say that every board is perfect in every way. It is impossible to make them all exactly the same but this is what makes every board unique. There are also small imperfections which are inherent in the wood. Having said that we go to great lengths to ensure that the materials, the levels of quality and finish are all of the highest standards.
At the end of the day we only ride our own boards. We don't own any commercially made boards and we're confident that our products are competitive in quality and price.
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