Neil’s dram-atic skateboard idea: Whisky barrel boards!

WHISKY and skate-boarding might sound like a dangerous combination –but for craftsman Neil McKinlay, they’re a match made in “woodworking heaven”.

Neil makes skateboards from old whisky barrels which are destined for the dump.

Thanks to social media, the 33-year-old’s skill has earned him a growing band of fans in Hollywood – but the venture started much closer to home with Neil’s sons Taylor, 10, and Caleb, nine.

He said: “I was given some barrels from a friend and my two oldest boys wanted to make something with them.

“I’m not sure how the idea came about but I think it was my oldest, Taylor, who said we should make a board.

“It’s pretty tricky and a lot of work to go from barrel stage to a finished board.

“I cut sections from the staves (staves are the long, curved pieces of wood running vertically between the circular top and bottom) that are kind of flat, then plane them down to get to the nice old oak. It’s messy and the studio smells of whisky.”

He doesn’t have far to go to work – it’s just a few steps from home to the studio in the village of Lochgoilhead, Argyll and Bute.

Neil – who also has a third son, four-year-old Sonny, with wife Gemma, 31, makes batches of five to 10 boards at a time, using white oak barrels. Making one board from start to finish would take a full day to a day and a half.

He said: “The insides are charred to give the whisky flavour but once you plane it and sand it away, it’s beautiful oak.

“I’d love to be able to have the finished board to smell of whisky. I pack them with the shavings so you get the smell of whisky when you open the box.

“I can get about five to eight boards from a good barrel, but it all depends on if I’m doing mini cruisers or longboards.

“The barrels are heading for a fire or landfill, so if I can make something useful out of them, it’s all good.”

While most of Neil’s work is making furniture, the boards are a popular part of his business. Neil said: “There are a few writers and directors from the movies who have boards… through these people I’ve built a small network of people who work in the movies in Hollywood.

“It’s helped with selling skateboards and then that’s followed on to furniture commissions; the whisky barrel skateboards have been a path to further projects.

“The price varies from £200-£350, depending on if it’s a mini cruiser or a longboard and if the board is personalised.”

And while Neil is highly skilled at making them, he knows his limits when it comes to riding on them…

He said: “I’m dangerous on a skateboard. If I can go without falling off, I’m happy with that.”