Busted skateboards lead to vision of local business

Jon Winfreys business plan began with a stack of broken skateboard decks. And they werent even his.

Winfreys friend Ryan Vecchiarelli kept a big pile of worn out, busted decks in his room. Vecchiarelli could never figure out what to do with the wrecks, but he held onto them for years in case an idea struck him. Instead, inspiration struck Winfrey, who saw an ad for a pair of high-end sunglasses with wood frames and thought how cool it would be to make shades out of recycled skateboards.

Murphys Law intervened: By the time Winfrey told Vecchiarelli about his plan, those decks were in the trash. Still, the two friends, both 23, hunted down some busted boards, bought a scroll saw and a few other shop tools, and got to work.

It took three or four months to get anything decent, Winfrey said.

After playing around with what styles translated into plywood, they settled on a design reminiscent of classic Ray-Ban Wayfarers. The curves of the deck translate into the natural bends for the nosepiece and the arms of the glasses. A single board, depending on how busted it is, can yield four or five frames. The plywood frames are stronger than youd think, Vecchiarelli said, have a food-safe finish and, naturally, float.

The sunglasses are also plenty eye-catching, as the layers of plywood provide bands of color in the finished frames.

It started as a hobby, Winfrey said. The response was crazy everywhere we would go, people would stop us.

I had somebody offer me $150 for them off my face, Vecchiarelli said. He was like, Come on, man!

That enthusiasm led them to think about starting a business. Both Winfrey and Vecchiarelli loved shop class at Liberty High School, where they graduated a year apart.

Ive always wanted a career where I could make something out of wood, Vecchiarelli said.

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Busted skateboards lead to vision of local business