Fingerboards – sometimes known as “Tech Decks” (Popular brand), is a miniature replica of a skateboard. Fingerboarding is in short, when somebody uses, or “rides” a fingerboard (with the fingers). Typically ridden with middle and index finger, people perform actual tricks replicated from skateboarding. The fingerboard deck is typically about 10 cm in length, with a width typically ranging from 25 to 34 mm.
What is a finger skateboard?
A finger skateboard is a mini skateboard which is about 96 mm. You can do some finger skateboard tricks using your two fingers rather than your feet. The first finger skateboard or fingerboard was created by Cam Fox Bryant.
What is a mini skateboard?
The mini skateboard is also known as mini cruiser skateboard. Positives of mini skateboard. Small in size; Easy to perform tricks and stunts; Very affordable and low maintenance cost; Good choice for advanced skaters; Negatives of mini skateboard. Might seem too small for some skaters; 2. Old School Skateboards:
How to identify an old school shortboard skateboard?
Identify an old school shortboard skateboard by looking at the tail. Old school skateboards have a tail similar to a fishtail. Not exactly but nearly. The deck shape is designed in a way that it looks classy and old fashioned.
What is shortboard skateboard?
Shortboard Skateboard Shortboards are famous for their agility and flexibility. You can perform a lot of tricks with this kind of skateboard. The deck of these skateboards is small or short in size that is why it is called shortboards.
What is the tiny skateboard called?
Penny boardA Penny board is a type of skateboard that is characterised by a short and narrow plastic deck. Although such skateboards were first manufactured during the 1970s, their name and contemporary popularity comes from the Australian brand Penny Skateboards, founded in 2010.
What are the finger skateboard called?
fingerboardA fingerboard is a working replica (about 1:8 scaled) of a skateboard that a person "rides" with their fingers, rather than their feet. The device itself is a scaled-down skateboard with graphics, trucks and plastic or ball bearing wheels, just like a skateboard.
What are the 3 types of skateboards?
Here are the main skateboard types.Longboard Skateboards. Longboards come in all shapes and sizes but as a general rule, a longboard is a skateboard that is 33 inches or longer. ... Cruiser Skateboards. ... Mini Cruiser Skateboards. ... Carve Skateboards.
What is the point of finger skateboards?
A fingerboard is a small-scale working replica of a real skateboard. The tiny sidewalk surfboard allows riders to recreate and reproduce skateboarding's core tricks and maneuvers by using their middle and index fingers.
Do they still make Tech Decks?
But, unlike those vestiges of the aughts, Tech Decks are very much still around — Spin Master, the toy brand behind Tech Deck, advertises a line of 2021 releases.
What are tech decks?
0:031:46Tech Deck Tutorials: Getting Started - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWelcome to tech tech the only toy brand that is truly authentic to skateboarding. And the premierMoreWelcome to tech tech the only toy brand that is truly authentic to skateboarding. And the premier brand in the sport of fingerboarding.
What Board should a beginner skater get?
To start with, we recommend a deck width of 7.75" or 8.0". Most full-sized complete skateboards will come in either 7.75" or 8.0" widths, this is the right size to start with, as your experience grows you'll know if you need a wider board later on.
What is a popsicle skateboard?
The Popsicle deck is currently the standard, modern skateboard deck design. This deck is ideal for street or transition (ramp) skateboarding. It has a symmetrical „popsicle stick“ shape with a concaved nose and tail that are used to perform tricks.
What's the easiest skateboard to learn on?
Longboards are a popular choice for beginners because they are the easiest to ride from day one. Drop through boards are even more friendly to beginners because they lower the ride height for extra stability and easier pushing. When choosing longboard size, it is important to keep your own size in mind.
Are fingerboards still popular?
Fingerboards slide into lockdown life The sport of fingerboarding is not new: 1990's kids might remember playing with them, but it was predominantly popular in America and Europe. But it has caught on again, according to a group of friends in South West WA.
Is fingerboarding easy?
1:2612:365 EASIEST FINGERBOARD TRICKS FOR BEGINNERS! - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipOne. Yeah well run us through it how do you do a shove it. Um i kind of think of like anyMoreOne. Yeah well run us through it how do you do a shove it. Um i kind of think of like any fingerboard trick is just like how you do it on a normal skateboard.
Why are they called tech decks?
The hardware and wheels are removable, as with actual skateboards. Children use their fingers to simulate ollies, grinds and other skateboarding tricks. Pro skater Thomas, 27, came up with the Tech Deck name.
What is a tiny skateboard?
Tiny Skateboards and the Fast Fingers that Ride Them. A fingerboarder shredding a finger-sized skatepark. (Photo: Mathias Genterczewsky /Flickr) Fingerboarding: It’s so much more than just using your hands to play with a diminutive skateboard. Although, technically, that is its definition.
When did fingerboards come out?
Fingerboards arrived in the 1980s, when skate shops began selling them as novelty keychains and hobbyists constructed their own tiny boards at home. Textbooks, rulers and writing utensils became fodder for elaborate miniature skateparks.
How much does fingerboarding cost?
According to Schneider, a good fingerboarding setup will probably run you “between $30 to $140. ... depending on the quality of products you want to go with. Ramps start around $15 or so, the biggest ones can be over $100, and full-sized parks can be around $2,000 but are generally not for sale often.”.
What are some tricks that can be done on a fingerboard?
With better boards, the discipline of fingerboarding evolved. Now people could perform standard skateboard tricks, like ollies, shove-its, and kickflips, on mini-boards anywhere they wanted. There are myriad companies involved with the fingerboard ecosystem at all levels of the supply chain.
What are the benefits of fingerboarding?
Beyond developing incredible hand-eye coordination (and equally strong fingers), the benefits of fingerboarding lie in its accessibility.
When did fingerboarding become more popular?
In the 1990s, as the classroom variety of fingerboarding became more popular, companies like Tech Deck improved upon the original keychain fingerboards, designing mass-produced, purpose-built platforms for tricks. With better boards, the discipline of fingerboarding evolved.
Who owns Flatface Fingerboards?
To get the lowdown on the fingerboarding scene, Atlas Obscura spoke to Mike Schneider, a 22 year-old from Andover, Massachusetts, and the owner of FlatFace Fingerboards —a company that hand-makes fingerboarding decks, wheels, and ramps, and even organizes events. Schneider is something of a celebrity in the online fingerboarding world, ...
What is a fingerboard?
A fingerboard is a working replica (about 1:8 scaled) of a skateboard that a person "rides" by replicating skateboarding maneuvers with their fingers. The device itself is a scaled-down skateboard with graphics, trucks and moving wheels.
How are fingerboards used?
Fingerboards are used by a range of people from those utilising them as toys to skateboarding and related sports professionals envisioning not only their own skating maneuvers but for others as well and can include the use for planning out competition courses as skateboarding develops into an international sport. Similar to train enthusiasts building railway models, fingerboard hobbyists often construct and purchase reduced scale model figures that would be considered natural features to an urban skateboarder such as handrails, benches, and stairs they would be likely to encounter while skating. In addition users might build and buy items seen in a skatepark including half-pipes, quarter pipes, trick boxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, and any number of other trick -oriented objects. These objects can be used simply for enjoyment and also to assist the visualisation of skateboarding tricks or the "flow" from one trick to the next (colloquially referred to as "lines").
How many bushings does a fingerboard truck have?
Bushings: Like real skateboard trucks, fingerboard trucks have two bushings that usually smooths out riding the board. Cheap plastic boards sometimes only have hard plastic bushings.
Where is fingerboarding popular?
Fingerboarding is popular in Europe, Singapore, Asia and the United States, and there is growing popularity in Eastern Europe. Besides skate shops and the internet, Fingaspeak, a fingerboard store opened in Steyr, Austria although rumored to be the world's first fingerboard store, it joins a very small list of fingerboard stores that are available. Although the sport of fingerboarding originated in the United States over 25 years ago it has really caught on fire in the European scene. The United States is following and it is estimated that although the popularity seems to be in favor of the Europeans, the American Fingerboard scene has equal sales. This may be due to the flooding of the market and the availability of resources in the United States. Fingerboarding has evolved from a hobby to a lifestyle for some people. Fingerboarders have regular " contests, fairs, workshops and other events". Example of these events are: FastFingers, and FlatFace Rendezvous. Fingerboard-product sales were estimated at $ 120-million for 1999.
What is a fingerboard deck made of?
Deck: Fingerboard decks are made out of plastic or wood. The shapes vary from popsicle decks, cruiser decks and old school decks. Modern and/or higher quality decks have a defined nose and tail just like a real skateboard. Over the years decks got wider, for example old "Berlin Wood" decks were 29mm wide, while today decks range from 32mm-34mm
What is a griptape on a skateboard?
Tape: For better adhesion, a Griptape is glued to the deck, which consists of either rubber, neoprene or fine-grain skateboard grip. Screws: Are the screws that attach the trucks to the deck.
What are skateboard wheels made of?
Wheels: Wheels are made of plastic, metal or resin, widely spread is polyurethane (the same material used in skateboard wheels) as it gives a firm grip. Higher quality wheels are also equipped with bearings. They are either cast, 3D printed or machined on a lathe (or their industrial equivalent).
What is fingerboard skateboarding?
In a way, you can say fingerboarding is bringing the skateboarding culture to your fingers instead of your feet, making it possible to mimic the same tricks you did when skateboarding but by your desk this time. Miniature obstacles are often seen when people ride their fingerboards, such as miniature rails, stairs, boxes, ledges, ramps being vert ramps, half pipes, quarter pipes, kickers and so on.
What is a fingerboard?
Fingerboards – sometimes known as “Tech Decks” (Popular brand), is a miniature replica of a skateboard. Fingerboarding is in short, when somebody uses, or “rides” a fingerboard (with the fingers). Typically ridden with middle and index finger, people perform actual tricks replicated from skateboarding. The fingerboard deck is typically about 10 cm ...
What makes a truck's fingerboard roll?
The wheels mounted to the axels of the trucks are what makes the board able to roll. Made of varying plastic material, some fingerboard wheels are made to be more “grippy and soft” whereas others are made to be more “smooth and hard”. Overall, fingerboard wheels can be categorised into “bearing wheels” and “non-bearing wheels”.
What is a gritty griptape?
The “gritty” griptape is what is seen on a stock Tech Deck setup, with a gritty surface – just like the one on a skateboard (sandpaper-like tape). Sometimes skateboard griptape is cut into smaller pieces and applied to fingerboard decks, as it can be more grippy then the “stock version” griptape of “Tech Decks”.
What is the hardware used to keep all the parts of a fingerboard together?
The hardware used to keep all the parts of a fingerboard together are often referred to as “Tuning”. Tuning can include: Screws to hold the trucks onto the deck. Bolts to keep the wheels on the truck axels. Bushings and washers for the kingpin of the truck. Tape for the top of the deck.
What is the griptape on a fingerboard?
Griptape. The “Griptape” is what goes “on top” of the deck and offers more grip, making is easier to flip the board in the desired direction. Overall there is 2 broadly used versions of “fingerboard griptape” which is the “gritty” tape (left) and the “soft” tape (right). The “gritty” griptape is what is seen on a stock Tech Deck setup, ...
How big is a fingerboard deck?
The fingerboard deck is typically about 10 cm in length, with a width typically ranging from 25 to 34 mm. As with skateboards – the deck has grip tape on top and trucks with wheels mounted to the bottom of it, making it able to roll.
What is a finger skateboard?
A finger skateboard is a mini skateboard which is about 96 mm. You can do some finger skateboard tricks using your two fingers rather than your feet. The first finger skateboard or fingerboard was created by Cam Fox Bryant. This is great for people who desire to skate but can’t.
How many skateboards are in 96mm?
As shown above, the Tech Deck 96MM Finger Skateboards includes 4 boards along with stickers, tools, and riser pads. Having four complete boards is not only a great deal but it also makes you feel like a pro. Each board comes with actual skateboard parts.
How to do tricks on a skateboard?
By doing a lot of practice, you can do almost all the tricks that done on a real skateboard. The first thing that you need to do is to purchase a fingerboard and a skateboard ramp. If you are a first-timer then you should buy Tech Deck. The next step is to do the standing position using your two fingers.
What is the Hometall skate park kit?
The Hometall Skate Park Kit includes 5 silicone mats and tools to let you learn the tricks quickly. It comes with 3 matte skateboards in different patterns.
What is included in the Tech Deck Starter Sk8?
The two boards include actual skateboard parts such as grip tape, metal trucks, and real graphics.
How to land a board with your fingers?
Place your fingers in the ollie position, however, the fingertip of the index finger should be pressed down. Lift the board. Flip your index finger away from you so that the board will also flip away from you. After doing several flips, place your fingers back into the board to land it.
How to get your nose to lift up on a board?
Put your fingers in the ollie position, however, move the index finger a bit at the back so that it won’t be crossing over the whole board. Using your middle finger, apply pressure in the tail so that the nose will lift up. When you slide your middle finger, bend your wrist as well towards your body. In this way, the finger will slide off at an angle.
What Is a Skateboard?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the verb ‘skate’ as to move, or make a particular movement on a surface. The board or deck can be of any size or shape. Based on this size, shape, features, and several technologies skateboards can be categorized into different types.
What are the different types of skateboards?
There are mini skateboards, longboards, cruiser skateboards, electric skateboards, and many many more.
How to identify an old school skateboard?
Identify an old school shortboard skateboard by looking at the tail. Old school skateboards have a tail similar to a fishtail. Not exactly but nearly. The deck shape is designed in a way that it looks classy and old fashioned. That’s why it is termed as an old school skateboard. The overall size of the skateboard is bigger than the usual ones.
Why is a mini skateboard so popular?
The reason behind the appreciation for a mini skateboard is its size. Being small in size it is easy to perform any tricks with this and even stunts in the park or just your backyard. The mini skateboard is also known as mini cruiser skateboard.
What are the two major categories of skateboards?
The 2 major categories based on size and shapes are longboards and shortboards or you may name them as ‘longboard skateboards’ and ‘shortboard skateboards’.
Why is a downhill longboard better than a classic longboard?
Though it is now seen in racing events too. The downhill longboard has better stability and more speed than a classic longboard. The reason behind creating this design was you need a wide wheelbase and cutaway fenders to control the speed while going down from the hill. Which is unlike in classic longboards. There are 2 popular shapes available for a downhill longboard. The standard concaves and the drop-through shape.
What is non electric skateboard?
Non-electric skateboards are the traditional skateboards that operate without any motor or engine. The deck moves with a push by its user. The wheels are smooth to roll over almost any plain terrain. The non-electric skateboards can be differentiated again based on the shape of the deck and sizes.
Overview
A fingerboard is a working replica (about 1:8 scaled) of a skateboard that a person "rides" with their fingers, rather than their feet. The device itself is a scaled-down skateboard with graphics, trucks and plastic or ball bearing wheels, just like a skateboard. A fingerboard is typically 100 millimeters (3.9 in) long with width ranging from 26 to 55 mm (1.0 to 2.2 in). A fingerboard can be used to do traditional skateboard tricks, such as an ollie, kickflip, and more.
History
Fingerboards first existed as homemade finger toys in the late 1960s and later became a novelty attached to keychains in skate shops.
Professional skateboarder Lance Mountain is widely credited for the first fingerboard. In the 1985, Powell-Peralta skateboarding video titled "Future Primitive," Mountain brought fingerboarding to the skateboarders of the world in the mid-1980s. Around the same time, Mountain wrote an artic…
Usage
Fingerboards are used by a range of people, from those utilizing them as toys, to skateboarders and related sports professionals envisioning not only their own skating maneuvers but for others as well. Similar to train enthusiasts building railway models, fingerboard hobbyists often construct and purchase reduced scale model figures that would be considered natural features to an urban skateboarder such as handrails, benches, and stairs they would be likely to encounter while skatin…
Components
Similar to a skateboard, a fingerboard consists of several components:
• Deck: Fingerboard decks are made out of plastic or wood. The shapes vary from popsicle decks, cruiser decks and old school decks. Modern and/or higher quality decks have a defined nose and tail just like a real skateboard. Over the years decks got wider, for example old "Berlin Wood" decks were 29mm wide, while today decks range from 32mm-34mm
Fingersnowboarding, Handboards and Fingersurfboards
Similar to fingerboarding, fingersnowboarding is snowboarding on a small-scale snowboard controlled with one's fingers. In December 1999 the first-ever World Snowboard Fingerboard Championships was held with a cash prize of C$1,000.00. Sponsored by companies such as Gravity Fingerboards, Transworld Snowboarding and Snowboard Life magazines and others the competition featured twenty competitors utilizing a custom "fingerboard snowboard park." Tom …
See also
• Skateboarding brands
Further reading
• Finger Skate Board Tricks and Tips Prepack by Susan Buntrock (2000); Scholastic, Incorporated - ISBN 0-439-21714-8.
• Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End by Justin Hocking, Jeff Knutson, Jared Jacang Maher (2004); Soft Skull Press - ISBN 1-932360-28-X. (See Whaling chapter by Justin Hocking).
History of Fingerboarding
Components of A Fingerboard
- The early mass-produced fingerboards were “Tech Decks”, a complete fingerboard setup with a plastic deck, griptape, trucks made of metal with plastic wheels mounted to it. Later the replication of other types of decks with a more “old-school” shape and some wider versions were also seen. Much can be said about Tech Deck and one thing is sure, they helped fingerboarding …
Deck
- So, let’s “break the setup down” for an overview of each part, starting with the deck. The deck is the part of the complete board that you put your fingers on. It is the “main” part and is what makes it possible to “pop” your tricks. Here is an example of what a wooden deck and plastic looks like: Most mass-produced decks were made of plastic back in the day, however nowadays you will b…
Griptape
- The “Griptape” is what goes “on top” of the deck and offers more grip, making is easier to flip the board in the desired direction. Overall there is 2 broadly used versions of “fingerboard griptape” which is the “gritty” tape (left) and the “soft” tape (right). The “gritty” griptape is what is seen on a stock Tech Deck setup, with a gritty surface – just like the one on a skateboard (sandpaper-like t…
Trucks
- The two trucks are what is mounted to the bottom of the board, holding wheels and deck together. They are used to keep the complete board together for rolling and as points for “Grinding”, when performing a trick that makes the truck glide directly against the edge of a curb or rail. Trucks can be separated into two main parts, being the baseplate and the hanger, being the top part of the t…
Wheels
- The wheels mounted to the axels of the trucks are what makes the board able to roll. Made of varying plastic material, some fingerboard wheels are made to be more “grippy and soft” whereas others are made to be more “smooth and hard”. Overall, fingerboard wheels can be categorised into “bearing wheels” and “non-bearing wheels”. Non-bearing wheels are what can be found on th…
Tuning/Hardware
- The hardware used to keep all the parts of a fingerboard together are often referred to as “Tuning”. Tuning can include: 1. Screws to hold the trucks onto the deck. 2. Bolts to keep the wheels on the truck axels. 3. Bushings and washers for the kingpin of the truck. 4. Tape for the top of the deck. 5. Boardrails for the deck (stylish “protective” item that is mounted on the bottom o…
Similar Trends
- Fingersnowskating has been seen in the fingerboard community as well. Replicating “snowskates” which is put simply, a skateboard without trucks or wheels, meant to be ridden in the snow. In other words, a smaller version of a snowboard where your feet are not strapped in and locked, meaning that tricks like “Ollie” and “Kickflip” can still be performed. People fingersnowskating w…