Tall and wiry, wearing black corduroys and a black T-shirt, 17-year-old Avery Miner traces the outline of a skateboard onto seven sheets of flexible plywood. He follows the edge of a foam rendering, then cuts the wood and places it into a vacuum seal where it will sit for 24 hours.
“It’s like making a layer cake,” says mentor Jim Vercruysse, the cabinet shop foreman at South Mountain Company.
This is Avery and Jim’s first skateboard. But many more are to come. Avery is trying to turn a passion for skateboarding into a livelihood by creating a new company called Quantum Skate. Mr. Vercruysse came on board as part of the mentorship program at the Martha’s Vineyard Charter School, where Avery is a junior in high school. It’s been a learning process for both of them.
Avery said he paid special attention to the quality of wood used in the boards. His first design is a long board, his personal preference. Long boards also offer a bigger canvas for his deck artists. The bottoms of the decks will be hand decorated by local artists, from classmates to professionals.
“I’m selling them as pieces of art that you can ride or put on the wall,” Avery said. The bottom of his first board will feature his own artwork, a swirling mass of color evoking a sunset over turbulent water. He makes the boards as if each one will become part of his personal collection.
“I feel like the care that goes into all of these boards is something I would make for myself,” Avery said. “I’m trying to sell a board to cherish.”
His first design has already sold.
Avery plans on doing different designs of decks, including pintails and custom boards. Customers will have the option to purchase them fully outfitted with trucks and wheels, or just as decks.
“I’ve already had inquiries for custom boards,” he said. “People trying to get something they’ve wanted their whole life.”
Once he has the design perfected, processing the deck is a short process. Boards sit in a vacuum seal overnight, but taping, tracing and cutting only takes around 20 minutes.
“The intricacies, everything before this stage is really the meat of it,” he said as he lined up his tracing pencil.
Avery records his ideas in a little red notebook. The logo for Quantum Skate is a pink brain surrounded by a blue Q, with thin black lines intersecting it. After sketching the design he sent it to Angela Park-Sayles who cleaned it up. The willingness of the community to collaborate on the business has been a major help in his work, Avery said.
He has more than a dozen artists signed on to contribute deck art, including Traeger di Pietro and Dan VanLandingham. As for the type of art he solicits, it can range from acrylic paint to metal work. A thick layer of epoxy will keep the art secure and protected.
“I want to push people’s boundaries, and I want them to second guess when they look at the board,” Avery said. The art is selected to complement the design and flow of the deck.
As he works to get his business off the ground, Avery has set up a crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter. Backers can receive custom stickers, art from the commissioned artists, or even a hand-crafted board.
“They’re a pretty big thing to put in people’s hands,” Avery said. “Receiving one will be like a gift even after purchase because it will be like receiving a dream in a box.”
Visit quantumskate.com.
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