Young entrepreneur offers unique boards

September 3, 2013 · 0 Comments

Glen McArthur takes pride in each and every longboard he creates.

By Mark Pavilons

Everyone is unique.
For boarders, their rides should reflect that, too.
There are plenty of different longboards out there for boarders to buy, some will need to look at longboards for beginners, others will look for a customized board, and others will want a totally unique board like the ones Ehwol Longboards offers people.
King-based Ehwol Longboards has that customized look you’re looking for.
Founder-owner Glen McArthur takes pride in each and every board he creates – his personal touch and flair is embedded in the very wood fibres.
McArthur started Ehwol Longboards as part of the provincial Summer Company program, administered through the York Small Business Enterprise Centre.
He’s been skateboarding for more than four years now, and has fallen in love with the boarding community. Last summer, he and a friend started building their own boards and that led to the establishment of Ehwol (a term that loosely means out of the ordinary).
He’s been extremely busy with his creations this past summer and he’s learned so much about the construction and design aspects.?He studied everything he could get his hands on and he believes his five current models are among the best and most creative.
In fact, no two boards are the same. McArthur does all the work by hand, from creating the molds to pressing the wood, sanding and applying the wild graphics.
The boards use locally sourced Canadian hard rock maple. Grown in colder regions, the wood is denser and therefore stronger.
They’re hand-built, hand-sanded and well finished, something McArthur refers to as “traditional building at its finest.”
The five models –?Yeti, Lemur, Beaver, Wahoo and Raptor – all boast subtle differences in wheel clearance, tails and concave patterns for stability. Customers can buy the decks (boards) themselves, or the entire finished package, complete with top-of-the-line Bear trucks and Hawgs wheels.
Longboards are typically used for commuting and are commonplace around university campuses. But the boards’ use is limited only by the riders’ skills.
McArthur’s custom swirl marblelike graphics are outstanding. The process is finicky and time-consuming but the end result is amazing, and no two patterns turn out the same. A high gloss clear coat keeps the graphics intact. Customers choose their colours and each board becomes “as unique as the rider.”
“I?focus on providing riders with one-of-a-kind, customizable longboards that enable the rider to express their own unique styles of individuality,” he said. “The style of graphics that are on the longboards I produce have never been seen before in this industry.”
While the business is seasonal in nature, McArthur said he will continue to market his boards and experiment with new designs, including using fabric and personalized graphics.
Working out of a friend’s garage near King City, McArthur is proud of his all-Canadian product.
Through his social networking and word of mouth in the longboard community, McArthur’s boards are gaining in popularity.
For more, visit www.ehwol.com or facebook.com/ehwollongboards. You can contact McArthur directly at Glen@ehwol.com.