Fingerskate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The fingerskate or fingerboard is a miniature version of the skateboard. It takes the same shape as a skateboard, but is only 96 millimetres long, and hence is simpler, composed of a board, griptape, two trucks,four wheels, and a dupa.
A wide variety of fingerboards exists. At one end of the spectrum, there are collectibles which usually do not have grip tape on the top side and are made almost solely of plastics. These are generally seen as unsuitable for serious fingerboarding, as the individual parts (bolts, axles, and so on) are not removable.
The other main class of fingerboard represents an original more faithful copy of a normal skateboard. These consist of mostly wood parts (though some include hard plastics), have griptape, and are in general very similar to full-size skateboards. It is possible to copy genuine skateboard tricks with the fingers and the use of these particular boards. These are also more durable, and are generally easier to use.
Fingerboarding as an institution is said to have begun in Germany with the advent of fingerboard championships, the last of which was delivered in Loerrach in 2002. There are also a number of fingerboard professionals (Jay Linehan, Alex Mcmillian, Ben Crompton,Martin Winkler, Luke Szanto, Justin Leviner, Guillaume Ouellet, Phils Savage, Martin Illsley, Nate Thompson), many of whom also endorse and manufacture their own products.
Miniature fingerboard ramps and props also exist that bear a striking resemblance to genuine skateboard obstacles.
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[edit] History
Fingerboards first started appearing in 1986 in keyring form, before people realised they could be used as toys. In the late '90s, Tech Deck Fingerboards was invented. They started an online community for people to talk to other people interested in the toy. Other subforums such as RZF, Blackriver-Ramps forum, Fingerboard.de and FFI were coming up. FFI, which has been through many changes over the years. Many big companies have come around, some being; FlatFace Fingerboards,Substance Wheels, Madness Griptape, Winkler Wheels and tuning, and Public Trucks which are a completely different trucks than Tech Decks. Substance, and FlatFace Wheels. Now, it is very easy to obtain a completely non Tech Deck setup. Fingerboarding is largely becoming popular throughout the world.
Some fingerboard companies materials have been leaked: Substance Wheels are acrylic glass (lathed), Winkler Wheels are white plastic (lathed), and Eurollt Wheels are aluminum and rubber (lathed). The material for FlatFace is teflon. Epidemic Wheels are plastic and brass. Any high-tech wheel is lathe-made in order to guarantee high precision and therefore fast and smooth rolling.
[edit] Early fingerboarding
The birth of fingerboarding to the public was around 1985 when Transworld Skateboard Magazine released an article on how to make your own personal miniature skateboard at home. The deck was made out of 7 baseball cards that were cut, shaped and glued together like 7 plys of wood on a skateboard. A magazine picture was glued on the bottom to replicate your favorite pro model graphics and real skateboard griptape was glued on top the board. Two pencil erasers were cut off a pencil and glued to the bottom to act as the trucks. A Hot Wheels car was then broken and the axle and wheels of the car were taken out and poked through the eraser creating an axle for the trucks and rolling wheels. This fingerboard was featured in 1985 Powell Peraltas "Future Primitive" video with Lance Mountain doing inverts and layback grinds in a double kitchen sink as Tony Hawk, Mike McGill and Ray Underhill cheered him on.
After wearing out or breaking many of these cardboard decks, some decided to make a board that was more durable. This board was made out of plastic that was cut and shaped. The tail and nose were bent up by heating the plastic up with a candle and slowly bending to the desired angle. Once the plastic cooled down it was a miniature replication a of a real skateboard deck. Two small square plastic pieces were then glued on with Super Glue to act as the trucks. These were better than the eraser trucks, because they would actually grind and not stick like the erasers. The wheels and axle from a Hot Wheels car were still used. This was the first fingerboard that people would actually learn real tricks on, and they made many of these for themselves and friends. (from Tech Deck article)
[edit] Brands
The most famous brands making fingerboards are Tech Deck, or Blackriver-ramps, but many smaller companies such as Evolve,
Modern Griptape, Substance Wheels, Berlin Wood, Eurollt Wheels , FlatFace , Primo, Arctic Hardware and many many more also exist. There are also some high-tech wheel companies around. The best are probably FlatFace, Winkler, and Substance. But very few bushing and grip companies are around. Some are Hessian Bushings, BRR Bushings. Some great griptape is Modern and Spinal. There are some smaller but great companies such as Epic, Solid Rails, Core, and Blunt. Brands to not buy from include Grey Ninja, DOOM, Shankster, Generate, and New York Marble.
[edit] Tricks
Almost all the tricks possible on a skateboard are possible on a fingerboard. Many popular tricks include; Kickflips,Heelflips,Boardslides, 5-0's, Nollie Kickflips, grinds , and many, many more. Examples of combo tricks on a fingerboard :
Full videos are viewable at:
