Nothing too special here. I am certainly not the first person to build a small bench out of old skateboards and some metal legs.

However, there are some small things that make mine special. For once, the metal legs, or “pinnijalat” in Finnish, are handmade by a talented gentleman named Petri from Seinäjoki. Secondly, all benches are assembled with actual skateboard hardware. Although most people might not know the difference or would not care, but to me it is a matter of principle and legitimacy - it has to be 100% skate! Lastly, all boards, whether they were skated by me or someone else, are not just bolted to the legs and that’s it. Each board is de-gripped, thoroughly cleaned, all edges sanded smooth and finished with care. Nobody wants to sit on a grime and wax covered bench with sharp edges to ruin their clean pants and catch splinters.

Most benches are simply build by me with suitable boards that have special graphics left on them. But nothing beats a bench made from your own board. Skaters form close attachments with their gear so it’s only natural that after a board is retired it’s hard to part ways sometimes. One neat solution is to give your deck to me and have a bench made from it.