Not only the sacred and the secular, but fashion and function, too, are married in the Crucitool, a crucifix necklace that also works as a skateboarding tool, developed by Heber resident Nic Herrera. The Crucitool and chain are made from 18-karat gold-plated stainless steel with a 4.5 x 4 inch p endant amulet depicting Jesus Christ on the cross. The arm posts contain hexagonal socket holes that skaters can use to adjust the tightness of their trucks and attach wheels. The base post also has a socket for changing mounting hardware. Crucitools are now available through Herrera’s Nothing Workshop website for $65. Herrera is the owner of Motherlode Screenprinters in Park City and took a shine to skating while growing up in Lindon. His favorite place to downhill ride is around Cascade Springs in Midway. “I got into skating probably in 2012,” Herrera said. “I saw some YouTubers and instantly wanted to learn that and make my own videos. The main thing was having a group of friends that was all down to learn together. That was the best part.” Years of skating led to his Crucitool epiphany this past spring. “I Googled it, saw it hadn’t existed yet, and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s capitalize. We need to capture that,’ because I was so surprised no one had done it before,” Herrera said. “[The skate tool shape] had always been a cross to me. I filed a patent on it, so I can legally say ‘patent pending.’” Herrera consulted friends in the manufacturing sector who led him to Jared Chichia, the owner of JFC and Co., a custom jeweler based in Provo.  “Basically I had a very loose idea of what I wanted to do and I sketched it out on paper to get the idea across,” Herrera said. “It was just a matter of taking some things that already existed, a skate tool and a Jesus statue, and adding them together, so it was pretty easy to get a 3D model made.” Nic Herrera wears his Crucitool necklace and skateboard tool. Credit: Galen DeKemper/For The Park Record Herreta obtained a suitable sample by September, then, his initial 50-unit order took six weeks to produce.  “I was kind of worried about it being a little too heavy, but it works, dude,” Herrera said. “I wear it all day, and it doesn’t weigh on me too much, and people seem to like it, too. I wore it to the Park CIty downhill championships, and people were stoked on it.” While in the midst of making his creation, Herrera realized that barriers to production had been more mental than physical. “It was one of the easiest projects I’ve worked on,” Herrera said. “I was thinking, to get something made out of metal, you probably have to have a casting fee that’s like $10,000, but it’s actually not that complicated. I feel like in the world now, where you can hit up a manufacturer online and get pretty much anything made, why not spend your money on making shit rather than buying shit? I realized that every dollar I spent could be spent on something else I made. Instead of buying a t-shirt, why not make a t-shirt? Anyone can go online and design something or find a manufacturer for an idea.” This dedication to self-expression combined with an imperative to indulge his intuitions. “When you find something like that, where it’s not on Google yet, you have to do it,” Herrera said. “I read this book, ‘Big Thinking.’ It says ideas are like animals, like creatures that latch onto you. If you don’t feed the creature and follow through with that idea, it’s going to fly away and go to someone else who’s willing to take that idea to reality. That’s what ideas want, they want to be real. I feel like if I hadn’t done it, someone else would. I feel like ideas are just floating around waiting for people to take it.” Herrera is currently in talks with SuperlineNetwork, a popular Instagram account, for a product post and is looking to seed Crucitools to professional skaters in exchange for their endorsement along with buying social media advertising to spread the word about his product. The experience has given Herrera confidence to pursue further endeavors, including a screenprinted fabric chessboard with custom cast pieces and a stainless steel version of the Crucitool. “If I ever need to patent anything again, I know how to do it,” Herrera said. “I think the Crucitool is going to be the first object I do. I feel like I’m going to do it for the rest of my life, just make shit I think is cool.” The Crucitool is available for purchase at NothingWork.shop. The post Nic Herrera’s Crucitool necklace marries sacred fashion with secular skateboarding function appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less