Welcome to Open Source Skateboards, the world's premier skateboard and longboard design/build studio.
Our mission: to empower creatives via skateboarding
Our goal is to use skateboarding as a vehicle to propel creativity and empower communities. We do this by providing tools, workshops, and resources to help you design, build, and use boards. We believe in the synergy of fabrication, engineering, coding, and play.
SK8CAD: Design, build, and connect
Create free digital models of boards and molds. Visualize, download, and learn. Use the “Maker Map” to connect with builders and suppliers.
Learn board design and construction in our internationally recognized shaping workshops. No experience required. Come build with us in San Diego, or learn at home.
"When other craft board makers ask me where to get molds made, I always send them to opensourceboards.com. Beau is very knowledgeable and helped design us a one of a kind custom mold to our specs. His turnaround time is the fastest I’ve experienced and the mold came out perfect. I will be getting all of my future molds from him. If you’re considering getting something from OSB, don’t blow it, do it! Bonus points for being one of the friendliest dudes in the biz!"
"After 20+ years of being together, coming up with new ideas to surprise each other can sometimes be difficult. It was my husbands 40th birthday and I really was looking to share another new, amazing adventure with him. He has always loved to skate and had been trying to find time to get back to it. So very grateful I came across this experience opportunity! It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience for my husband and I. Beau is truly an expert! He was able to combine his passion for skateboarding, his background in engineering, and his genuine desire to share this with others. Thank you so very much Beau!"
"Open Source Skateboards provides invaluable product development services for my business. Beau's engineering expertise and attention to detail make his boards feel like pieces of art."
"I came to Beau at OSS to have my custom freestyle skateboard recreated. My original manufacturer of my favorite board shape went out of business. I had the measurements and specs, so OSS helped to create a mold and even improved my board but using better quality materials. These boards last! I recommend OSS to my beginning skate students and all my freestyle skating friends who want a special shape. OSS has a lot of options and at fair costs. I think it's really cool that they're foward thinking about the environment too using only sustainable wood and materials. I'm also glad to support products made in the USA by hand and OSS does just that."
"The Nanodek kits are a perfect solution for both at-home and in-person learning environments that quickly became the students' favorite project of the year! We were easily able to extend the project into a sculptural skate park design with recyclable materials for Earth Day! Beau is exceptional at addressing any concerns and made the ordering and receiving process a dream! Thank you for making our school year an exciting and totally rad adventure!"
"This experience was one of the best times my buddies and I have had in a while. Beau let us go right after it from the start and we all created some pretty awesome boards."
"I would recommend anyone looking for skateboard manufacturing consultation, programming, or custom molds/boards to check out Open Source Boards. Beau is truly on the cutting edge of what he does."
"Saying that my students enjoyed the Nanodeks would be an understatement. They absolutely loved the Nanodek concept and the activities we built around the Nanodeks... The class used the Nanodeks to research momentum, friction, gravity and mass... [w]hile also designing their own skateboard. The entire project took about a month to do and the kiddos really enjoyed it, both in school and at home... I will definitely be ordering another class set for next year and years to come."
"I made my first board over 30 years ago with a press in my garden shed, and this is such a huge leap and step forward in the refinement of the skateboard making process. There's just SO MUCH knowledge crammed into this course, everything was covered in detail to properly educate me about making custom skateboards at home, and without it being dauntingly complicated. It's really inspirational to see someone like Beau at Open Source Skateboards take the time to walk you through and explain all the key elements of designing and making your own boards. It has inspired me to pick up my sketchbooks again, to carry on learning about skateboard design after 30 years- and crucially, to begin making my own skateboards".
"When other craft board makers ask me where to get molds made, I always send them to opensourceboards.com. Beau is very knowledgeable and helped design us a one of a kind custom mold to our specs. His turnaround time is the fastest I’ve experienced and the mold came out perfect. I will be getting all of my future molds from him. If you’re considering getting something from OSB, don’t blow it, do it! Bonus points for being one of the friendliest dudes in the biz!"
Jonny Manak, Manak Skates
Testimonials: Shaping Workshops
"After 20+ years of being together, coming up with new ideas to surprise each other can sometimes be difficult. It was my husbands 40th birthday and I really was looking to share another new, amazing adventure with him. He has always loved to skate and had been trying to find time to get back to it. So very grateful I came across this experience opportunity! It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience for my husband and I. Beau is truly an expert! He was able to combine his passion for skateboarding, his background in engineering, and his genuine desire to share this with others. Thank you so very much Beau!"
- Ami, workshop participant
Testimonials: Product Development
"Open Source Skateboards provides invaluable product development services for my business. Beau's engineering expertise and attention to detail make his boards feel like pieces of art."
- Mike Osterman, Waltz Skateboarding
Testimonials: Custom Boards
"I came to Beau at OSS to have my custom freestyle skateboard recreated. My original manufacturer of my favorite board shape went out of business. I had the measurements and specs, so OSS helped to create a mold and even improved my board but using better quality materials. These boards last! I recommend OSS to my beginning skate students and all my freestyle skating friends who want a special shape. OSS has a lot of options and at fair costs. I think it's really cool that they're foward thinking about the environment too using only sustainable wood and materials. I'm also glad to support products made in the USA by hand and OSS does just that."
Ricky, skateboarder
Testimonials: Nanodek
"The Nanodek kits are a perfect solution for both at-home and in-person learning environments that quickly became the students' favorite project of the year! We were easily able to extend the project into a sculptural skate park design with recyclable materials for Earth Day! Beau is exceptional at addressing any concerns and made the ordering and receiving process a dream! Thank you for making our school year an exciting and totally rad adventure!"
- Lindsay, Middle School Art Teacher
Testimonials: Shaping Workshops
"This experience was one of the best times my buddies and I have had in a while. Beau let us go right after it from the start and we all created some pretty awesome boards."
- Mason, Workshop Participant
Testimonials: Consulting & Software
"I would recommend anyone looking for skateboard manufacturing consultation, programming, or custom molds/boards to check out Open Source Boards. Beau is truly on the cutting edge of what he does."
Jake Alsept, Grandma Skateboards
Testimonials: Nanodek
"Saying that my students enjoyed the Nanodeks would be an understatement. They absolutely loved the Nanodek concept and the activities we built around the Nanodeks... The class used the Nanodeks to research momentum, friction, gravity and mass... [w]hile also designing their own skateboard. The entire project took about a month to do and the kiddos really enjoyed it, both in school and at home... I will definitely be ordering another class set for next year and years to come."
- Allan, 5th Grade Teacher
Testimonials: Virtual Workshop
"I made my first board over 30 years ago with a press in my garden shed, and this is such a huge leap and step forward in the refinement of the skateboard making process. There's just SO MUCH knowledge crammed into this course, everything was covered in detail to properly educate me about making custom skateboards at home, and without it being dauntingly complicated. It's really inspirational to see someone like Beau at Open Source Skateboards take the time to walk you through and explain all the key elements of designing and making your own boards. It has inspired me to pick up my sketchbooks again, to carry on learning about skateboard design after 30 years- and crucially, to begin making my own skateboards".
Damian, Virtual Workshop Student
