Margaret River Fingerboards
June 2022
Margaret River in Western Australis is well known tourist destination and its wine. Here you are manufacturing Finger Boards. Why?
Well, it started years ago when we took our kids to the Margaret River Show and they got little plastic toy fingerboards in their ninja turtle showbags. Naturally while having beers after work one day, I (Mike) and Tylar started trying to do tricks with them and had fun playing games of skate and trying to pull off more intricate tricks. We eventually went out and bought tech decks and got a little better and a little more creative with the tricks, as the boards were much better quality. Eventually, we stumbled upon the real fingerboard scene looking around online for fingerboards and realised there were people around the globe making professional wooden fingerboards that felt much more realistic and natural than any toy fingerboard we had used. We ordered a couple of different ones and tried them out. I had already dabbled in making myself fingerboards with clamps, veneers and tech decks as my mould and after mucking around we chucked in some money together and bought some professional moulds, trucks, bearing wheels and veneer and started a real fingerboard company.
So you press your own fingerboards?
Yes, we do press our fingerboards, everything we make is crafted with our own hands. We use a mix of Australian and American wood.
What is one of the main international event?
“fast fingers 20” on youtube and watch the latest competition that was held in Germany.
Who is the Tony Hawk of finger boarding?
That’s a tough question. Because of youtube, there are a lot of well-known talented fingerboarding personalities around now. But if I have to be honest, I believe it would be Lance Mountain for his fingerboarding clip in a Powell- Peralta skate video from the 80s. And after that fingerboarding was spread out to the masses and now he gets a lot of credit for being the first person to make fingerboards and just making it popular in general.
‘…he (Lance Mountain) gets a lot of credit for being the first person to make fingerboards and just making it popular in general.’
‘Future Primitive’. I had no idea about Lance’s godfather of Fingerboarding status.
Yeah a lot of people might of missed that fact about Lance Mountain. Pretty cool history.
Are there pro boards out there from actual fingerboard skaters?
Yes there is, I can’t remember any off the top of my head but fingerboard companies do sponsor talented fingerboards and some have teams of riders in some cases, and I have seen companies make “pro” boards for their riders which they do sell to the public as well.
Any old decks out there where people go crazy?
Yes, there is, a lot of the fingerboard companies are just a one-person show and only bring out limited quantities at a time and they usually sell out very quickly. I’ve personally been trying to get a wizard graphic deck from a company called “beast pants” but I’m always late to the party. I’m sure there are sought after boards in the professional fingerboard community, but I’m not too sure what they are. There is more sought after boards in the tech deck community as the brand itself has released so many different series of boards since the late 90s and have a common to the rare system which is a bit more collectable and more accessible to the public as you can get them anywhere you can buys toys usually.
Where do you get trucks and wheels from?
We get our hardware online but mainly throw in the trucks and wheels just so you can shred straight out of the packaging. You can buy Trucks, wheels, grip tape and other accessories from. Radical Fingerboards they are an Australian based store with an online shop. Some trucks and wheels just by themselves can cost up to 100/200 dollars. It’s not necessary but the quality is noticeable.
‘Fingerboard companies do sponsor talented fingerboards and some have teams of riders.’
What is one of the hardest trick to do on a fingerboard?
Well it depends really as fingerboarding is constant progression and certain things may be harder for some than others but anything switch for me is pretty hard. I’ve only just started doing switch Ollie’s and kickflips and I’m stoked.
Fingerboard shoes or no shoes?
“Michael” speaking for myself here, I don’t dig the shoes, though I do appreciate people who can still pull of tricks cleanly with them on and I guess it’s taste. But otherwise, it’s a hard no from me (laughing).
What plans do you guys have?
At the moment we are making more concrete tabletop parks so we can put on events for fingerboarders in the South West of Australia, and maybe further locations later. We are always progressing behind the scenes, working on new techniques and technologies trying to always improve the process and product. But our main goal is to try to help the fingerboarding scene grow in Australia and to bring something new for the community to enjoy. I feel like there is a lot of people that are curious but might be too scared to try due to social stigma. We want to break that barrier. It’s a really enjoyable, creative and rewarding hobby.
Last question: If you could interview one person, who would it be and why? What would you ask?
I’d probably interview David Jones. He’s a creative guy and I think has helped progress the fingerboarding scene in Australia and New Zealand. Last words? Thank you very much for the interview, it was a pleasure. And If anyone is interested in fingerboarding feel free to check some of our content on Instagram just type in Margaretriverfingerboards. Keep shredding everyone. Also, MRFB would like to give a shout out to these companies:
Abducted Fingerboards Mythakos Fingerboards
Sewer Alien
Commit robbery
Vivid wood On point Fingerboards
‘I don’t dig the shoes, though I do appreciate people who can still pull of tricks cleanly with them on and I guess it’s taste.’
