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Never Summer Factory Tour
Many of you are smart enough to realize that your shred stick wasn’t made by fairies and elves in some kind of magical forest, but have you ever really thought about the way your snowboard was put together? Never Summer Snowboards has a factory right in the good ‘ol US of A, and they’ve stepped up to the plate to show FSM their own masterful production that’s taken them 17 years to perfect.
The Core
- Each board starts out as a big ‘ol Raw Block of Wood, a combination of hard and soft woods.
- The entire block is Shaped, then a slab of Sidewall is glued onto the block.
- The blocks are left to cure overnight.
- A Horizontal Feed Saw slices off each core, about six or seven boards are cut from each raw block of wood.
- Insert Holes are drilled out and then the wood core of the board is sent through a CNC Sander that Profiles the board (gives the board its specific flex pattern)
Raw Wood Blocks
6 to 7 wood cores with Ptex sidewall are cut from each block (depending on style of board)
Edge and Base
- The P-tex base is made in house with die-cuts
- The Edges are also applied in house to the P-tex base
The Die-Cut and an example of a base
Just think how many edge catching scorpions will come of these…
The Layup (Sandwich Construction)
Layers are hand glued together. The different layers in each board include:
- Base and Edge Layer
- Damping Layers (This is a rubber type layer that reduces vibration in the board)
- Fiberglass Layers (Never Summer is famous for its exclusive use of STS Fiberglass which is a key component to the boards strength)
- Wooden Core
- Carbon Fiber Layers (Specific to each style board)
- Top Sheet Graphics Layer
Rubber-like Damping strips are applied to the base and edge layer to kill that quiver
Carbon Fiber Strips are applied in board model specific patterns to the top of the wood core.
The Top Sheet is precisely placed and buffed. The board Jose made here is next year’s “Heritage” board, complete with Colorado Pride
- Boards are then pressed with a dialed combo of heat and pressure
Cutting and Inserts
- Excess Material from the layup process is cut off by hand with a bandsaw
- Inserts are drilled out by hand
Bentley Blaho cuts off the excess from the layup process
Then drills out the inserts
Finishing Station
- Edge and Sidewall Grind
- Base Grind, using 3 different types of Grit (texture), from very aggressive to very fine
- Factory Waxing, with One Ball Jay
Edge and Sidewall Grind
One Ball Jay Wax on every single board
Quality Control- The Final Step
Boards are etched with serial numbers, given a solid once over, and packaged for your riding pleasure. With such a hands on process the boards actually endure non-stop Quality Control at every step of the way.
Check out this News Reel about the factory with interviews from owners Tracey and Tim Canaday from Denver Local News Channel Fox 31. Click Here
Also, check out Never Summer’s Rocker Line-up
Comments
Oh my- the rocker evo is officially the funnest board I have ever ridden….
Made In America
In a time when politicians and pundits are bitchin’ about jobs moving overseas, it’s so refreshing to see people in our industry doing their part to support both snowboarding and people’s livelihoods. Props to Never Summer!
Never Summer Legacy>tuffest board out there. Im 230 6′4. I have banged rocks, road over rocks. Hit trees… ugh rum and blunts = woops lol.. anyways if you want a tuff ass board get there legacy… amazing amazing amazing…BUTRON SUCKS BY THE WAY
thats burtons new name butron
The owner’s desk is right through a doorway from all this. Legit.
Never Summer, proudly built in the USA by Mexicans for hippies!
I like those p-tex sidewalls. My Gnu from 1986 had p-tex sidewalls and they were tough. Then again, my dad’s Kazama skis from like 1975 also had p-tex sidewalls and they were tough. I’m glad the Never Summer crew chose the right inventions to copy
I rode with a dude who worked for Never Summmer. He said they invented ptex sidewalls.
He just wanted down your pants mary jane swain. They havn’t invented nothin never. I live in Coquitlam, BC. I used to work for Option Snowboards when their name was ‘Never’ back in the day. Then Never Summer sued them and made them change their n
name. I didn’t even know who Never Summer was. Grant, the guy who owned Option was cool about it though. He just went blade’n behind the factory and blew it off. Us Canadians are pretty mellow ya’know! The whole incident left me a bad taste.
I think those guys in Colorado are rip-off kings. lol!
I heard the guy who owns Kemper also owns Never Summer. Or did they just steal their inventions from Kemper. Kemper did have nice graffix back in the day when snowboarding was still core.
I heard they bought all their cores from Mexico.
The 3 year warrantee is bogus. Mine snapped after 1 powder run. I called the factory and they blew me off. I’m going to only buy chinese crafted Butrons from now on. I like the Uninc pig sh*t an all.
Did you say “Blew me off”? I’m head’in off to Laguna after we wrap up todays Brady Reunion shoot. I hope to meet you there.
I don’t think Beandip mean’t all of Never Summer blew him that way Robert. Good luck anyway in Laguna tonight! Keep it on the low though….Eve Plumb cruises this site religiously.
My sidewall just fell off yesterday. What should I do?
When mine fell off, the shop I bought it from said it was normal and that I should just light a ptex candle and drip in a new one. It took a while but I used 2 colors and it came out dope. I guess that’s how they factory does it.
I dripped in an anarchy symbol. It took me like 3 tries to get it right. Ptex smoke is cool though. Those Never Summer dudes love the ptex smoke I hear.
i had a never summer and it was so heavy i got really bad knee pain on the chairlift. they should make them lighter and.. not as gay.
Let’s take minute to set a few things straight…
- Yes the brother’s (owner’s) desks are literally a few feet from this whole operation. Pretty sick.
- P-tex sidewalls were invented by Steve Link who made a handful of boards under the name of Summit, several years back. Steve actually snowboarded in one of those old 70’s James Bond movies as a stunt man. Awesome! But the the brother’s of NS shared
a board manufacturing space with Steve and borrowed the P-tex sidewall idea from him. Nothing shady here…he’s been a long time friend of the brother’s and continues to be. He was just in the NS factory a few days ago visiting. So NS did not invent P-tex sidewalls, they were just the first snowboard company to use them on a larger run basis.
- Never Summer had been in business for years, long before Option (or ‘Never’) came along. With much respect to Option, a Cease and Desist order was filed toward the snowboard company ‘Never’. NOT the same thing as being sued. With the snowboard industry being as small as it is, especially back then, it just makes sense. If you owned Cocal-Cola and someone came out with another soda that looked the same and tasted similar but called it ‘Coca’, would you be stoked?
- Never Summer purchases their wood for use in cores from Canada, always has.
- NS is privately owned and operated, period.
- Check out the Recurve Camber post. NS’s boards have not only been very comparable in weight to the rest of the industry for the past handful of years, but the new technology has dropped 1/4 to 1/2 lb off 5 of next season’s models, making them some of the lightest out there. Plus maintaining the 3 year warranty.
Didn’t Never Summer even borrow a trademarked name from Lib Tech snowboards? The NAS reCURVE was introduced last fall. I think SLAYER is from the great state of Colorado and might never have wandered out.
My friend who worked for NS told me the cores showed up at the factory pre-assembled (sidewalls affixed) from somewhere “down south” but that must have changed.. Never Summers are great, but they aren’t the only American factory, and they haven’t…
…done a whole liot of inventing.
Hey Slayer,
Steve Link must have copied either Kazama Skis or Gnu Snowboards back in the days or yore. He’s a copycatter. Never Summer is a bigger copycatter.
Your a total dickhead Hellbetrude……..but I could love you anyway. The sidewall on my girlfriend’s Never Summer melted a little when she was waxing it. They didn’t warrantee it.
If the owner’s desks are really close to production, then that’s really stupid of them. I hope they wear respirators at their desks or don’t come to work much. It must be hard to talk on the phone with a mask on. OSHA should inspect this situation
AND PRONTO!
Doesn’t Black Snow finance Never Summer? The sidewall on my Black Snow fell off. I took it to Milos and the nice dude told me to drip a ptecks stick in the big hole. He said to make art like an anarchy symbol. I said, “No DWEEEE!”
I heard never summer has a new stick with like 4 cambers and backwards cambers too. sounds kinda dope but kinda dangeris. my frend sayd to chek em out at sports athoritie online. i couldnt find them. are they gould on rails and boxes.
you guys are gay…. never summer kicks ass… all you haters out there go ride something thats made by a bunch of kids in china!
Did you say, “You guys are gay?’ Tap, tap, tap, tap. I’m delighted to be here too. Are you warm too Ummm. This makes my day…year. Anyone here want to meet up in Laguna. I was hoping this was this type of site. I love you Ummm. Thank you, th
thank you, thank you. Did you also mention the word ‘ass’ in your post? Come to daddy? Rowwww! Ummm is my main man! PS. My ‘friend’s’ son needs to fix a hole in his ptex sidewall. Should he drip in an anarchy symbol with a black ptex candle?
Robert, Eve Plumb frequents this site. Zip it up now.
Did Ummm say “bunch of kids” in his post? Tap, tap, tap, tap ,tap! I’m with you Ummm!
I was in James Bond ‘A View to a Kill’ as Tom Sims stunt double. I did the jump scenes. One dude on skis in the movie had Fritzmier Skis with P-tex side walls. A bunch of other skis like Swallow, Kazama, and Pacer Rapids had Ptex sidewalls.
P-tex sidewalls is old tech. Allen Arnbrister was totally the king back then. But went off to the klink. Ah, the good ol’ days. Back when a cowboy beard scored a ladies.
Did you say cowboy? I’m with ye-all on that notion. Do you live near Laguna Steve? Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, TAP!
Robert hunny, both Eve Plumb and Mike Lookinland have been frequenting this site. Don’t let your cat out of the bag, dear. Not yet. Mike’s P-tecks sidewall just fell off his snowthingy so he might come here looking for repair advice.
i dont care if never summers boards do really come from mexico. the extra weight is the shiz on north dakota death ice. keep up the good work. the pics of your mexican factory look cool to me. mexico is cooler than china kid sweet shops!
You f*in idiot Ralston. Never Summers aren’t made in Mexico. They are made in Utah by Revolution snowboards. Bentley Blaho and Jose work for Revolution. Unity Snowboards are home-brewed in Colorado. Unity kicks NS ass!
Oh, I love Unity Snowboards. I just tried out their new 3 camber demo board. The owner is a really cute guy. He is way more core than any Utah brand like Never Summer. He told me his desk is a big old epoxy can. Can’t top that for core.
hey, wheres the glory hole on this dang site?! i love to drip hot melt in a ptex hole.
Hah! It’s OK for people to hate on NS product. People often times don’t like to see the success of others. I have mad respect for alot o companies out there…notice I don’t talk smack about anyone.
C’mon Geezala…the NS factory is in Denver, CO not Utah. NS also has no ties whatsoever to Revolution, never has. Jose, the Blaho brothers and everyone else works solely for NS. NS owns no other company either. Props to Unity, they’re all good guys
Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Slayer. I didn’t see anyone hate’n on Never Summer. You must have low self esteem or somethin. The peeps here are just lovin on Unity and that cute dude that owns it.
Did someone say panties? Did someone say cute dude? Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tappety TAP!
Slayer is correct. People don’t like to see other people succeed. They hope to see other people fail so they feel better about themselves. I love to see other people fail. So saying nice things about Unity bums me out. Enough already!
Why isn’t Bentley Blaho wearing a dust mask? Here at 5-Axis everyone wears a dust mask when cutting fibreglass or on machines that create dust. Even with good dust collection machines, Bentley should wear a mask. Buy him a $1.20 mask NS!
thats why they moved to mexico so they wouldnt have all the dam rules fools.