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| A '''fingerboard''' or '''finger-skateboard''' is a miniature version of a ] complete with moving ]s, ]s and ].<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are">{{cite web | last=Waters | first=Mark | title=The Fingerboard Controversy: Are toy-skateboard makers promoting skateboarding or just profiting? | publisher=Transworld Business | date=2000-03-03 | url=http://www.twsbiz.com/twbiz/industrynews/article/0,21214,704472,00.html | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref> A fingerboard is 96 millimeters long or longer; some range up to 110mm long, and can have a variety of widths. ]s may be performed using fingers instead of feet. ] helped develop fingerboarding as a ] in the late 1970s and wrote an article on how to make fingerboards in ]'s ] in 1985.<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> | |||
| Although fingerboarding was a novelty for years, they became a collectible toy as skateboard manufacturers realized the potential for product branding and profit starting in the 1990s. Fingerboards are now available as inexpensive novelty toys as well as high-end collectibles, complete with accessories one would find in use with standard-size skateboards.<ref name="Life and Limb: Skateboarders">{{cite web | last=Hocking | first=Justin | coauthors=Jeff Knutson, Jared Jacang Maher, Jocko Weyland | title=Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End | publisher=Soft Skull Press | year=2004 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=BxFdbXUDGt0C&dq=%22fingerboard%22+skateboard | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref><ref name="About Fingerboarding" /><ref name="Fingerboard Tuning">{{cite web | title=Fingerboard Tuning | publisher=Fingerboardstore.de | year=2007 | url | |||
| =http://www.fingerboardstore.de/shop/index.php?cPath=23 | accessdate=2008-12-25}}</ref> | |||
| Fingerboards are also used by skateboarders as ] model visual aids to understand potential tricks and maneuvers;<ref name="The Mutt: How to Skat">{{cite web | last=Mullen | first=Rodney | coauthors=Sean Mortimer | title=The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself | publisher=HarperCollins | year=2004 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yKDJjltBon8C&pg=PA49&dq=%22fingerboard%22+skateboard&sig=0iaF28br3TMTt0-5GG-oAjm2JRw#PPA43,M1 | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref> many users make videos to document their efforts.<ref name="YouTube videos of fingerboarding" /><ref name="YouTube videos of handboarding" /><ref name="YouTube videos of fingerskating" /> | |||
| Similar to fingerboarding, '''handboarding''' is a scaled-down version of a skateboard that a user controls with their hands instead of just fingers, while '''finger snowboarding''' utilizes a miniature version of a ]. | |||
| __TOC__ | |||
| ==History== | |||
| Fingerboards were first created as homemade toys in the 1970s and later became a ] attached to ] chains in skate shops.<ref name="About Fingerboarding">{{cite web | title=About Fingerboarding | publisher=Blackriver Ramps | year=2007 | url=http://www.blackriver-ramps.com/brr-blog/wordpress/?page_id=3 | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref> | |||
| In the 1985 documentary "Future Primitive" a homemade fingerboard was ridden in a sink; some consider this the earliest fingerboard footage available for public viewing. The homemade fingerboard was built from ], ], and ] ]s.<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> | |||
| Fingerboards have been a peripheral part of the skateboarding industry since the late 1980s and were originally marketed as keychains."<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> Although barely "rideable," they were improved upon by the Tech Decks brand which mass produced a "rideable" miniature ].<ref name="About Fingerboarding"/> The first entertainment licensed fingerboards were introduced by Bratz Toys, released through a Hong Kong-based toy company named Prime Time Toys, and designed by PANGEA , the company that helped develop "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" toy line for Playmates Toys. The designs were harnessed from entertainment properties such as "Speed Racer," "Woody Woodpecker," "NASCAR," "Heavy Metal," and "Crash Bandicoot." The licensed boards drove the Tech Deck brand into licensing strong urban brands, rather than simply making up cool designs. Suddenly, brands were appearing on fingerboards, and the Tech Deck brand became a household name. In the late 1990s, as fingerboards became more prominent outside the skateboarding community, X-Concepts' Tech Decks licensed "actual pro graphics from major skateboard brands" riding "the 1999 fingerboard wave right into ] and other major outlets."<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> In 1999 there was a Tech Deck fashion of collecting one of each design similar to the ] fad months prior.<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> Thusly, Tech Deck, and its distributors at Spin Master Toys, suddenly found themselves large market to milk. Entertainment-based fingerboard brands couldn't compete against the urban juggernaut, and eventually disappeared. Other "major players in the skateboard industry" soon followed in hopes of reaping profits as young toy-playing children would choose to take up skateboarding.<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> More modern fingerboards, like newer, advanced Tech Decks, , the , and Fingerboard brand's Pro-Precision boards all featured "interchangeable wheels and trucks, a fairly accurate scale size, and pad-printed graphics reproduced from the most popular skateboard companies in the business."<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> Blackriver Ramps' Fingerboardparks providing all manner of fingerboarding accessories including sophisticated and customizable components able to duplicate, in scale-model, the skateboarding experience thus developing the fingerboard into a ] ] and the practice into a "form of mental skating".<ref name="About Fingerboarding"/> | |||
| ==Popularity== | |||
| Fingerboarding is popular in ] in countries such as ] and ];<ref name="Fingerboard Events Forum">{{cite web | |||
| | last name = | |||
| | first name = | |||
| | coauthor = | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title=Fingerboard Events Forum | |||
| | publisher=Fingerboard.de | |||
| | year=2007 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://fingerboard.de/ | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref> there is growing popularity in ].<ref name="About Fingerboarding"/> Besides skateshops and the internet the world's first fingerboard store opened in ], ].<ref name="About Fingerboarding"/> Fingerboarders have regular "]s, ]s, ]s and other events".<ref name="About Fingerboarding"/> Teri Werner, owner of Boards and More, a skateboarding shop, in ], ], commented on the fad stating she promotes fingerboarding and skateboarding by holding contests on the store's fingerboard ramp with one contest having "175 entrants in two categories, plus another hundred spectators."<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> {{cquote|The kids specifically come here to buy their fingerboards. We sell them for $9.99, but they come to us because they trust what we do. We're kid-friendly, and we keep it alive by having ramps available for them to play with. We sell fingerboards like crazy.<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/>}} Fingerboard-product sales were estimated at ]120-million for 1999.<ref name="The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> | |||
| There is a growing scene in America due to many US-based companies sponsoring and hosting fingerboard events; most notably Mike Schneider (owner of Flatface) hosts the "Rendezvous" event is held 1-2 times a year since 2006. | |||
| ==Usage== | |||
| ] | |||
| To use a fingerboard one's ] goes on the "tail" (back end), and the ] goes on the middle of the board or vice versa if it does not feel comfortable to ride in the fashion that was previously stated. Many people though, find it easier to start with 3 fingers. A variety of innovative tricks from classic, so-called "old-school", to more original and creative maneuvers can be envisioned and done on a small scale either for the enjoyment alone or as a precursor to one's skateboarding experiences where individual style and diversification of tricks is rewarded.<ref name="The Mutt: How to Skat"/> | |||
| Fingerboards are used by a range of people from those utilizing 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 skating boarding develops into an international sport. Skateboarding is currently being considered as a sport for the ] in ].<ref> BBC Sports, 8 June 2007.</ref> The ], due to be held 8 August-24 August, 2008 in ], may present the sport as spectator event as ]'s second gold of the ] (October 2007) was to Che Lin for skateboarding.<ref> Xinhuanet, Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, 28 October, 2007.</ref> Also, skateboarding youths have attracted "mesmerized" crowds in ], a city described by professional skateboarders as "a skating ]."<ref> Xinhuanet, Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, 12 September, 2007.</ref> | |||
| ==Fingerboard Parts== | |||
| ] | |||
| The parts of a fingerboard are: deck, griptape, trucks, bushings, and wheels. The trucks and decks can easily be modified (''modding'') to reduce weight, improve smoothness or look better. Modding tutorials can be found online. | |||
| '''Decks''' is the major component of a board and where, on a standard skateboard, one would stand. There is a wide variety of decks with material ranging from wood to plastic, to paper. Most commonly, decks are made out of wood, as this gives it more "pop" and a more authentic feel. The average deck will have two kicks - a flared end used for leveraging the board - while some old-school models have only one end flared. Decks traditionally have lower kicks like that of a Berlinwood or a Tech Deck, however, some decks have higher kicks, and if the kicks are very steep, they are referred to as "wall kicks". | |||
| '''Griptape''' is the friction tape adhered to the topside of the deck to enable users to more easily maintain control of the deck. There are many types of griptape. Some use standard skateboard griptapes although the grip wears out faster on fingerboards as they endure more moisture from sweat and oils from users hands. There are also smooth tape from brands such as Riptape, FBS, Toxic Tape or NoComply flex tape which is less harsh on a user's fingers allowing them to fingerboard for longer periods of time. Some users prefer traditionally griptape because it has the advantage of giving the board a more traditional look and feel. | |||
| '''Trucks''' are the structures attached to the bottom of the deck that house the wheels and bushings. Some trucks are all one molded piece while others are scaled-down versions of regular skateboard trucks. As fingerboarding has evolved "collector" and "pro" versions have emerged with some brands shaped using special instruments to make them lighter and look better. | |||
| ''']s''' are pliable material that provide the cushion mechanism for turning a standard skateboard but on a fingerboard help stabilize the trucks thus keeping the wheels in the same position to enable stronger tricks and visual appeal. Collector and "pro" brand bushings are made from many different types of squishy material, usually rubberized plastic or rubber. | |||
| The '''Wheels''' can determine how smooth the ride is thus what kind of "flow" a user's ride can be. The pro brands are traditionally made out of a variety of different materials, and have small ball-bearings inside to enhance the smoothness. | |||
| === Materials === | |||
| Tech Deck, arguably the most popular fingerboards, are made out of hard plastic and borrow designs from many well-known skateboard manufacturers, such as ], ], and ].<ref name = "The Fingerboard Controversy: Are"/> They use grip tape, and professional graphics. The stock trucks on Tech Decks are made of die-cast metal and have two separate axles for the wheels to roll on. The wheels are made out of plastic. Some fingerboarders prefer the feel and performance of decks made out of wood. Wooden decks can be made from 3-7 plies of a given veneer; maple, walnut, and mahogany being the most popular. All of the hole-drilling and shaping is done by hand, thus the price is higher. A wooden deck from a popular company usually costs $30 USD. Along with wooden decks, advanced fingerboarders also tend to prefer bearing wheels to plastic. Bearing wheels can be made from a range of materials such as teflon, urethane, silicon, and fiberglass. The wheels are usually put into a lathe to ensure the best shape. Once the wheels have been readied, bearings are put into place to increase the smoothness of the wheels rolling on the axle. Tuning screws for the wheels cause the wheels to roll more smoothly. Rather than using the stock axles and kingpins that come on Tech Deck trucks, fingerboarders use tuning screws and custom kingpins to ensure that wheels and hangars are more properly secured. | |||
| ==Accessories== | |||
| ], ] showing young people utilizing a ]s and other transition ramps for ] and practicing skills. Fingerboarders create and purchase similar items to duplicate the experience.]] | |||
| Similar to ] enthusiasts building ], fingerboard ]ists often construct and purchase reduced ] ]s that would be considered natural features to an ] skateboarder such as ]s, ]es, and ] they would be likely to encounter while riding. In addition users might build and buy items seen in a ] including ]s,<ref name="Roll-up halfpipe fo">{{cite web | |||
| | last name =Halford | |||
| | first name =Wayne | |||
| | coauthor =Eric SodKar Fai, Steven Moran | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title=Roll-up halfpipe for miniature toy skateboard | |||
| | publisher=Mattel, Inc. | |||
| | date=2000-08-03 | |||
| |url= http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT6350174&id=v5AJAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=fingerboard+skateboard | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}} Patent number: 6350174; Filing date: Aug 3, 2000; Issue date: Feb 26, 2002. </ref> ]s, ]es, ]s,<ref name="Amusement ramp and method">{{cite web | |||
| | last name =Labelson | |||
| | first name =Ross | |||
| | coauthor =Timothy J. Klima | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title=Amusement ramp and method for constructing same | |||
| | publisher=Pillsbury Winthrop LLP | |||
| | date=19 July, 1999 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://www.google.com/patents?id=BloNAAAAEBAJ | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}} Patent number: 6623367, Filing date: Jul 19, 1999; Issue date: Sep 23, 2003. </ref> pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, and any number of other ]-oriented objects.<ref name="Reciprocating plaything">{{cite web | |||
| | last name =Hull | |||
| | first name =Everett | |||
| | coauthor = | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title=Reciprocating plaything and method for playing | |||
| | publisher=Thomas L. Adams | |||
| | date=10 December, 2004 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://www.google.com/patents?id=h1-BAAAAEBAJ | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}} Patent number: 7261613; Filing date: Dec 10, 2004; Issue date: Aug 28, 2007 </ref> These objects can be used simply for enjoyment and also to assist the ] of skateboarding tricks or the "flow" from one trick to the next (or to create "lines"). Fingerboarding events feature some of the latest elaborate models and accessories; many of the manufacturers features photos and videos on their websites. | |||
| ==Video sharing== | |||
| Fingerboarding is a good match for videography as the action can be controlled and framing the activity offers opportunities for creativity.<ref name="Fresh Dialogue 3">{{cite web | |||
| | last=Vienne | |||
| | first=Véronique | |||
| | title=Fresh Dialogue 3: New Voices in Graphic Design | |||
| | publisher=Princeton Architectural Press | |||
| | year=2003 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3PoFw_4hj3UC&oi=fnd&pg=PT16&dq=fingerboard+skateboard&ots=iqx9fzkMIm&sig=GrozcGffn2GKTjvF-TcFpb2KJsY#PPT101,M1 | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref> With the rise of the ] business from early 2006,<ref name="US online video popularity keeps">{{cite web | |||
| | last=Perez | |||
| | first=Juan Carlos | |||
| | title=US online video popularity keeps climbing | |||
| | publisher=] | |||
| | date=September 13, 2007 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/09/13/video/ | |||
| | accessdate=2007-09-15}}</ref> fueled, in part, because the feature that allows ]ing clips to friends,<ref name="A Work in Progress">{{cite web | |||
| | last=Zawadski | |||
| | first=Alison | |||
| | title=A Work in Progress | |||
| | publisher=] | |||
| | date=September 13, 2007 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://media.www.leprovoc.com/media/storage/paper453/news/2007/09/12/Viewpoint/A.Work.In.Progress-2964495.shtml | |||
| | accessdate=2007-09-15}}</ref> several thousand finger board and handboard videos can now be found on popular video-sharing sites such as ].<ref name="YouTube videos of handboarding">{{cite web | |||
| | title=YouTube videos of handboarding | |||
| | publisher=] | |||
| | date=25 December 2007 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=handboard&search_sort=video_avg_rating&search_category=0&search=Search&v=&uploaded=&filter=1 | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref><ref name="YouTube videos of fingerskating">{{cite web | |||
| | title=YouTube videos of fingerskating | |||
| | publisher=] | |||
| | date=25 December 2007 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=fingerskate&search_sort=video_avg_rating&search_category=0&search=Search&v=&uploaded=&filter=1 | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref><ref name="YouTube videos of fingerboarding">{{cite web | |||
| | title=YouTube videos of fingerboarding | |||
| | publisher=] | |||
| | date=25 December 2007 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fingerboard&search=Search | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref> Thus even if the weather does not permit a skateboarder to practice outside they could try a potential trick with their scaled-down fingerboard and related items and share the video with whomever they wished. | |||
| == Handboards == | |||
| ] on a mini-skateboard, similar to a handboard.]] | |||
| Handboards, similar to fingerboards, are a scaled-down version of a ] roughly half to a third of the size of a standard skateboard (11 inches) and utilizes a person's ] rather than just their ]s to control the board and perform ]s and ]s. Handboards, because of their larger size, more closely match details of a standard skateboard. For instance a skateboard truck, the wheel structure, would more likely to match part for part an actual skateboard truck rather than be a cast one-piece construction or otherwise simplified. If a user preferred a particular type of wood or decorative style that could also more easily resemble a full-scale skateboard. | |||
| {{-}} | |||
| ==Fingersnowboarding== | |||
| ] | |||
| Similar to fingerboarding, fingersnowboarding is ] on a small-scale snowboard controlled with one's fingers. Fingersnowboard brands are: Tech Deck, Flick Trix. In December 1999 the first-ever World Snowboard Fingerboard Championships was held with a cash prize of ]1,000.00.<ref name="Snowtopia 99">{{cite web | |||
| | last name =Stouffer | |||
| | first name =John | |||
| | title=Snowtopia 99: Tom Sims Wins World Fingersnowboard Championships | |||
| | publisher=Transworld Business | |||
| | date=17 December 1999 | |||
| | url | |||
| =http://www.twsbiz.com/twbiz/industrynews/article/0,21214,705865,00.html | |||
| | accessdate=2007-12-25}}</ref> Sponsored by companies such as Gravity Fingerboards, Transworld ''Snowboarding'' and ''Snowboard Life'' ]s and others the competition featured twenty competitors utilizing a custom "fingerboard snowboard park."<ref name="Snowtopia 99"/> ], a world champion of snowboarding,<ref>"Snowboarders Finally in Olympics, But Are Conforming Grudgingly", ''], ], ].</ref> ended his run by landing his fingersnowboard into a ] ] of ]; he was treated for minor burns and donated his winning prize to ]'s Snowrider Project and to ].<ref name="Snowtopia 99"/> (A photo of the course can be seen .) | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| * ''Finger Skate Board Tricks and Tips Prepack'' by Susan Buntrock (2000); Scholastic, Incorporated - ISBN 0439217148. | |||
| * ''Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End'' by Justin Hocking, Jeff Knutson, Jared Jacang Maher (2004); Soft Skull Press - ISBN 193236028X. (See ''Whaling'' chapter by Justin Hocking). | |||
| ==External links == | |||
| {{commons|fingerboard}} | |||
| {{Wiktionary|fingerboard}} | |||
| * at the ] | |||
| * includes ''The Anatomy of a Finger Skateboard''. | |||
| ;Videos of boarders | |||
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| {{Skateboarding}} | |||
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