Anyway, last summer I found an old Popular Mechanics Kookbox in a garage sale in pretty beat up shape - some rot, some areas where the top deck was separating from the rails at rotted screw holes, flaking, peeling, bubbling of the finish. All things that are fixable. Guy I got it from said it was his grandfather’s and he used it while lifeguarding in NJ after WWII. Pretty standard board from what I can tell except for an aluminum nose.
I’d like to restore it to usable condition, get it wet once or twice, and then display it at home for the future. So far I’ve finished sanding the remnants of the old finish, repaired the failing screws, and filled the screw holes I guess at this point I’m looking for advice on finishing it. I’d like to try to be true to the era in which it was built. There is some nice grain pattern on the decks and I’m not really a fan of the glossy epoxy look but any advice would be appreciated. Also, if you’ve got some info on the aluminum nosed kookboxes, that would be appreciated too
The aluminum nose is new to me - is it possible to show a couple of other photos?
Yours looks to be in pretty good shape, congrats on the find. Standard finish for the period would be spar varnish, lots of coats carefully prepped.
There are many schools of thought on kookboxes - the don’t touch it school (too late), the all original finish school (it will leak, but to use a few times, dry and then hang, no worries), or the 4oz/epoxy lamination school (stabilize, make it water tight, etc, but ruin the originality). I like your idea of cleaning it up, consolodating, and sticking with an original finish.
I’ve only ridden one kookbox, and it was a trip! Enjoy.
I cant say I have ever seen an aluminum nose but I have seen a copper nose it was wrapped around the nose and folded over top and bottom and nailed on , board was painted .
Thanks Jeffrey. I was hoping to be able to keep it untouched but it was really in need of some help. If it was an original Blake, I would have left it.
I’m leaning toward the spar varnish route and will keep you posted. And I’ll try to grab some more photos when the weather clears up.
I would just finish it with a few thin coats of spar varnish. Perhaps add some dark stain to the first coat if your sanding has removed the patina of the old wood.
