I have been bugging Austin to build me a old fashion Kook box and since winter is a little slower he started her up. I thought everyone might want to see the progress. The first step was the research. Using the old drawings from Popular Mechanics and the Tom Blake book Austin works out the rib designs. He makes a template for each rib using masking paper.
Troy
I was on my way to building a tom blake kook box. I made up a model so I got everything the way I wanted it. Then I started lofting. The day I started I stumbled on the CLC Kaholo and descided that it was where Tom Blake would have evolved to with the kook box if foam had not come along. So I shifted to building the Kaholo instead and thats what I am working on now.
Hey Wood,
Yeah Austin found out the the original rib designs left a lot to be desired. He reworked the dimensions a little to make a better outline. The Kook box design we are using is the one they developed a little later to surf. We made the ribs this time out of pine just so its cheap but next time we will use Paulownia.
Starting to drill out to lighten the ribs.
The ribs finished except for a little sanding.
My dad paddled these and other hollow boards when he was growing up in Santa Barbara. Those stories along with growing up with a small shop, power boats, water/snow skiing, skateboarding and graduating to building my own boats are why I’m retarded, err, devoted - to board building now.
Looking forward to seeing your build.
Thank you for sharing.
And yes, the Kaholo along with others like it are now the excellent descendents of these earlier builds.
We started to put the ribs together and noticed we had to adjust the rib widths to give a better arch. The orginal plan ribs made it have a ton of flat spots.
During this first build we found a lot of dos and don'ts. We tried to but on one side but it pulled everything way out of shape. Just like tightening your lugs you have to put both sides on screwing across and then front to back to make sure everything stays true.
is this a dry run or are you seriously using 1x pine for this?
marine ply…for the love of all that is good and holy!!!
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, it’s a <scare_quotes>Kook</scare_quotes> box.
I think I recall dad telling me his were built with cedar.
And they leaked.
Hey Aloaf,
Yeah I know what you are talking about with the #1 (sometimes #2) pine. The next one will be made from Paulownia but this one was the test run. No she won't be kept dry but the good news is we know how to use fiberglass so she will be getting a 4 oz wrap. We had to recut the ribs so many times working out the gliches in their drawings that we would have spent hundreds of dollars working out the problems. This one is the test drive the next one will be the keeper.
Here is the picture of how not to do it. Like I said work both sides at the same time and then in an x pattern.
Aloaf don't look too close because you will freak out about us using dry wall screws :)
Troy
The exterior ceramic deck screws work fine for boats so a paddle board that’ll be in the water somewhat less…
But the 1/4" crown coated monel staples are the bomb especially for prototyping and a helluvalot lighter.
That was hilarious! He is probably having an aneurysm.
Imagine the look on his face if he saw a pic of a strip and newsprint build…
Howzit Brian, I suggest using stainless steel square drive screws and a drill bit with an adjustable screw sink so the screw head is at least even with the surface. Aloha,Kkua
Hey Kokua,
I hope all is well. We will probably use brass screws for the next one but for this one it is just drywall screws where you don't see and brass screws where you see them.
Tail block and nose block installation. We used scrap pieces of paulownia for the caps.
We are still looking for something to use as the brass vent plug. Any ideas where we can pick something up? We want it to lie flat.
I bought some brass vent plugs at a ace hardware.. Not nescisarily made for surfboard's. Orginally the piece doesnt sit flush. I bought a dye to drive the threading down farther then the hex nut sat flush with the vent. otherwise through my searchs I have only found plastic vent plugs on surf sites. But im not the best at finding stuff either
you can use the standard brass thread insert and counter sink the hole to use a flat head screw so it will be flush with the deck.You don't need any o ring. the
Here are a couple pictures of the blocks that the vent plugs go into. They are sealed with epoxy resin inside and out. The inside gets a layer of gorilla tape to keep the resin from running into the surfboard when I resin in the vent plugs. If you want to know more about this go to Hi! Wood_Ogre here, thread. It shows more detail on installing vents and inserts. There are 2 vents in this board,one in front and one in the back. I have found 2 vents to be the best because it allows water to be vacumed out of the board from one vent and air let in through the other vent. I have made a special vacum tool from a turkey baster that can get 100% of the water out. Why would water get in the board ? Because I am stupid and forget to put the vent plug in sometimes !!!
I have used drywall screws in my wood boards - just until the glue dries. Them I take them out.
