{"id":81873,"date":"2021-06-28T08:59:51","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T15:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=81873"},"modified":"2021-09-17T09:54:21","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T16:54:21","slug":"the-story-of-the-federal-stone-pool-coping-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/the-story-of-the-federal-stone-pool-coping-family\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story of the Federal Stone Pool Coping Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Federal Stone started pouring pool coping in 1965, and its focus was exactly that: pools. Throughout time, as skateboarders began invading pools to skate, Federal Stone became many skateboarders\u2019 preferred pool block due to its quality and the roaring noise you\u2019d get rolling over the \u201cDQ\u201d diamond embossed coping. As skateboarding lifer, Sam Boo, says, \u201cWhen you see diamonds on the back of the coping, you know it\u2019s Federal Stone and you know it\u2019s going to grind.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blue Bell Bowl in Blue Bell, PA. Bowl Construction and Photo by Chris Mearkle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During multiple evolutions of skateboarding terrain construction, Federal Stone became many skateboarders’ and builders’ coping of choice for backyard bowls, municipal skateparks, private skateparks, DIY spots, pools, vert ramps, mini ramps and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, hardcore devotees of Federal Stone can be found building skate spots in a vast variety of places. On the East Coast, Jaime Stapula and the ECRW, a crew of skaters and builders dedicated to creating the biggest, meanest round wall skate bowls, use Federal Stone DQ pool coping blocks at the top of every one of the ECRW concrete waves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Northeast, you can find and grind Fed Stone at the American Nomad HQ in Windsor, Connecticut too. As skate legend, Bill Danforth, explained, \u201cWe bought Federal Stone coping for the American Nomad bowl because Federal Stone is the standard for pool coping. It\u2019s grinding on a piece of skateboarding history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chicken Bowl in Ontario, Canada. Bowl Construction and Photo by Chris Mearkle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the founder of East Coast Ramp Design, Chris Mearkle, says, “Federal Stone has been doing their thing for a long time. Jaime [Stapula] turned me onto them and I first used it at the Chicken Bowl in Canada.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blinde Optics bowl in SoHo, NYC. Bowl construction and photo by Chris Mearkle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s good to see skateboarding once again putting to good use a product that was not originally intended for skateboarding. Federal Stone is a family run business and the service is good and the turnaround time is great and the price is fair. They have different styles of block and they make it easy to order. DQ diamond top all the way,” says Merk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rosey Bowl in Denver, Colorado. Bowl Construction and Photo by Chris Mearkle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Without a doubt, Federal Stone has been an intrinsic part of skateboarding history. Now, in another history-making move, Federal Stone is setting yet another quality standard in skateboarding by sponsoring East Coast born and bred skateboarder, Ben Hatchell. You can also expect more announcements coming soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the folks at Federal Stone said, \u201cWe\u2019re thankful to be part of such a great community of skaters who love our blocks. We want to keep working hard at our craft so that we can continue to serve many more park, bowl and pipe builds as skating continually grows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Concrete Bomber Chaz Bryan, frontside rock at the SlabMD. Photo by Anthony Smallwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In order to share the legacy of Federal Stone and highlight its connection to the skate community, Anthony Smallwood, (skateboarder-filmmaker-photographer-curator-skateboarding activist and co-founder of Washington D.C.\u2019s underground skate spot, Fight Club) produced a short film about this East Coast-based business. Read on for his thoughts on the making of this mini-documentary and check out the film to explore more about the story of the Federal Stone family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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