Beyond the Blank Deck: How Empire Works With Skateboard Brands to Bring Their Ideas to Life

More Than Just a Place to Order Skateboard Decks

There are plenty of places to purchase blank skateboard decks or order wholesale skateboards.

But what happens when you want something a little different?

Maybe you're starting a skateboard company and want a specific shape that isn't available from a standard catalog.

Maybe you already have a brand, but you're looking for a manufacturer who can offer more flexibility with your products.

Or maybe you have an entirely new concept and aren't sure where to begin.

That's where working directly with a skateboard manufacturer can make a difference.

At Empire, we're not simply taking an order and forwarding it to another factory or buying blanks in bulk and transferring the graphics.

We manufacture skateboard decks at our facility in Rockford, Illinois, using North American hard maple, hydraulic presses, precision CNC equipment, and manufacturing processes we've developed and refined over the years.

When you contact us about a project, you're communicating directly with people who understand how skateboard decks are actually made.

We understand the relationship between deck shape, concave, wheelbase, construction, and the tooling required to bring everything together.

And if something about your design presents a manufacturing challenge, we're going to talk through it with you rather than simply telling you what you want to hear.

Our goal isn't just to sell you skateboards.

It's to help you produce something you're genuinely happy to put your name on.

Every Skateboard Project Starts With Understanding What You Want

One of the first things we try to understand when working with a customer is what they're actually trying to accomplish.

For example, two customers might both ask for 100 custom skateboard decks, but their projects could be completely different.

One might be starting a new skateboard brand and need a standard popsicle shape with custom graphics.

The other might want an unusual deck outline, a specific wheelbase, a different concave, or a construction that requires entirely new manufacturing tooling.

Those aren't the same jobs, and we don't approach them as if they are.

Before quoting a custom skateboard manufacturing project, we may need to discuss several details:

• Deck dimensions: Width, length, wheelbase, nose and tail dimensions, and overall shape.
• Concave and geometry: Whether an existing mold will work or if custom tooling is necessary.
• Materials: Natural maple, dyed veneer, and construction options.
• Graphics and finishing: Heat-transfer graphics, natural finishes, colored finishes, dips, foils or other available options.
• Production quantities: Whether the project makes sense as a smaller production run or a larger wholesale order.
• Manufacturing feasibility: Whether the design can be produced consistently with the equipment and processes available.

These conversations help eliminate surprises.

They also give us opportunities to suggest alternatives that might save the customer money or improve the final product.

Sometimes a relatively small design adjustment can eliminate the need for expensive tooling. Other times, the right answer really is to manufacture something completely custom.

We want our customers to understand those differences before committing to production.

Custom Skateboard Shapes: Turning an Idea Into Something We Can Manufacture

One area where we can offer additional flexibility is custom skateboard shapes.

Not every skateboard needs to follow the same traditional popsicle outline.

We work with CNC equipment that allows us to machine skateboard decks with precision, including custom perimeter shapes, specific wheelbase locations, and other design requirements.

However, there's an important distinction between changing the outline of a skateboard and changing the actual three-dimensional geometry of the deck.

A customer might want a unique perimeter shape that works perfectly with one of our existing molds.

That's generally a much simpler project.

Another customer might want an entirely different concave, nose angle, tail angle, or other structural geometry.

That can require custom molds and additional development work.

We take the time to evaluate those differences.

For example, imagine a customer wants a wider skateboard with a specific wheelbase and an unusual nose and tail shape.

Before producing anything, we need to establish whether the deck fits within the available mold dimensions, whether there's sufficient material around the finished perimeter, and whether the proposed design can be machined consistently.

Those details might not be immediately obvious when looking at a drawing, but they're critical during actual manufacturing.

We'd rather identify a potential issue during the planning stage than discover it after producing a batch of decks.

That's one of the benefits of working with a manufacturer who handles both the tooling and production.

Custom Graphics: Making Sure the Finished Deck Matches the Vision

The shape and construction of a skateboard are only part of the finished product.

For many skateboard brands, the graphics are just as important.

Whether someone is launching their first skateboard company or introducing another design into an existing lineup, they want their finished decks to represent their brand properly.

Empire offers custom skateboard printing and heat-transfer graphics as part of our manufacturing services.

But graphics introduce their own manufacturing considerations.

A design that looks great on a computer screen doesn't automatically mean it will transfer perfectly onto every skateboard shape.

Deck curvature, surface preparation, graphic placement, printing dimensions, and finishing methods can all affect the process.

This becomes particularly important with unusual skateboard shapes or more complicated designs.

We work with customers to evaluate their artwork and determine an appropriate manufacturing approach.

Sometimes that means discussing graphic placement.

Other times, it means reviewing whether the requested finish or printing method is suitable for the deck being produced.

And when a customer wants several different graphics within a single production order, we need to evaluate the quantities and setup requirements involved.

Our goal is to help customers understand what's involved rather than promise something before we've worked through the details.

Wholesale Skateboard Manufacturing Doesn't Have to Mean Giving Up Flexibility

One misconception about wholesale skateboard decks is that ordering in quantity means you have to accept whatever specifications a manufacturer already offers.

That isn't necessarily the case.

At Empire, we offer established deck shapes and manufacturing options that can help customers get started without investing in entirely new tooling.

For brands that require something more specific, we can also evaluate custom shapes, dimensions, and mold requirements.

There's a balance between customization, production efficiency, and cost.

For example, a skateboard company might initially want a completely custom deck shape.

After reviewing the specifications together, we may discover that an existing mold can provide the desired concave and geometry, while CNC machining can produce the custom perimeter.

That could make the project more practical without compromising the customer's original concept.

On the other hand, if the customer has a specific design that can't be achieved using existing tooling, we can discuss what developing a custom mold would involve.

This is why we believe communication is such an important part of skateboard manufacturing.

We're not interested in pushing every customer toward the same solution.

We want to find an approach that makes sense for their product, their production quantity, and their budget.

Quality Matters, Whether You're Ordering 50 Decks or 500

Customization is important, but none of it means much if the finished skateboard doesn't perform.

At Empire, quality has always been a major focus of our manufacturing process.

We manufacture our decks using North American hard maple and pay close attention to material selection, pressing, machining, finishing, and overall consistency.

Every stage of manufacturing contributes to the finished product.

The quality of the veneer matters.

The adhesive application matters.

The pressing process matters.

Even the machining and finishing operations matter because a skateboard needs to feel right in someone's hands and, more importantly, under their feet.

We take pride in producing skateboard decks with strong construction, excellent pop, and clean finishes.

We're skateboard manufacturers, but we're also skateboarders who understand that a deck is more than just another piece of merchandise.

When someone puts their brand name on a skateboard we produce, our work becomes part of their reputation.

That's a responsibility we don't take lightly.

Starting a Skateboard Brand? You Don't Need to Know Everything About Manufacturing

One of the things we want people to understand is that you don't need to be a manufacturing expert to contact us.

You don't need to understand every detail of veneer construction, hydraulic pressing, CNC machining, or custom mold design.

That's our job.

If you're interested in starting a skateboard brand, you can come to us with your idea, your preferred deck dimensions, your artwork, and an approximate production quantity.

We'll help you understand the available options and what information we need to move forward.

If you're an established brand looking for a new skateboard manufacturer, we can discuss your existing specifications and determine how closely we can reproduce the product you're looking for.

If you're developing a custom skateboard shape, we can evaluate the design and explain what would be involved in manufacturing it.

And if something isn't practical, we'll tell you.

We believe that being upfront with customers is far more valuable than agreeing to everything and creating problems later.

Why We Manufacture Skateboards in the USA

Empire Skateboard Manufacturing operates in Rockford, Illinois.

We've been manufacturing skateboard products since 2011, and we're proud to continue producing decks here in the United States.

Domestic manufacturing gives us direct control over our production process.

We can evaluate materials, inspect finished products, adjust manufacturing methods, and work directly with customers on the details of their orders.

It also means we're personally involved in the manufacturing challenges that come with developing custom products.

We're not trying to be the biggest skateboard manufacturer in the world.

We want to be a manufacturer that brands can rely on, whether they're ordering established shapes or developing something new.

For us, building long-term relationships with customers is just as important as making the products themselves.

Let's Build Something Together

Whether you're looking for wholesale skateboard decks, private-label skateboard manufacturing, custom skateboard shapes, or a reliable source for blank decks, we'd appreciate the opportunity to discuss your project.

You don't need to have every detail figured out before contacting us.

Tell us what you're trying to accomplish.

Show us your drawings, specifications, or examples of what you have in mind.

We'll take a look, discuss the possibilities, and help you determine the best way to move forward.

At Empire Skateboard Manufacturing, we're not just interested in making another batch of skateboards.

We want to help you create something you're proud to put your name on.

And we'd love to see those boards out there being ridden.