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Wood shop creating princess beds, skateboards, and everything in between

Published  April 17, 2019 5:07pm EDT
Tampa Bay
FOX 13 Tampa Bay

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - A St. Petersburg, Florida-based woodshop creates custom pieces for clients around the Bay Area.

Their work is all-encompassing; from a household television stand made from mangrove to the bar and back bar wall in the EDGE District’s Room 901 to a gold and Swarovski Crystal-embellished, princess-style bedframe.

“That’s one of the places I can still go to have a drink and admire what we’ve done,” Stine Custom Woodworks owner Jon Stine said.

But another kind of project now draws him to the workbench: Longboards.

Stine and Aron Retkes began collaborating on skateboard designs and soon realized there was a large market for custom street wheels.

They started out making longboards for themselves. One of their first boards was a 60-inch board made with 100-year-old mahogany leftover wood from a furniture project.

“We were making longboards for ourselves, we had them in our shop, just like other things. Clients would come in see them want them we started Local Longboard Company,” Stine said.

Clients range from beginner skater to multi-million-dollar business owner who skates on the weekends.

The shop also has a mobile retail space. The bus called Sheila is one of only a handful of mobile skate shops in the country. The vehicle itself is a testament to their quality of work, with wooden customizations everywhere you look.

“This is a nice demonstration of some of the creative woodworking that we can do,” Stine said, pointing out the wooden, longboard-shaped dash panel, and then showing off the vehicle’s ceiling. “This is a veneer ceiling of exotic lumber.”

Stine says he’s proud to call the Bay Area home and plans to do woodworking here for life.

“I enjoy this every day. I will do this 'till the day I die. There is no doubt about it,” Stine said.

For more information on Stine Custom Woodworks, visit their website, Facebook page, and Instagram. For more about Local Longboards, visit their website, Facebook page, and Instagram.