Using a Shop Smith Mark V on a Chris Craft Roamer refit

[roamer46]

The framing for the transom mahogany plywood is done. I also temporarily installed the aft deck zigzag floor boxes so I can start fitting those panels. They're looking super nice!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Transom Framing and Floor Box Test Fit

Cheers,
Q

[nuhobby]

Great to see resumed progress! And the use of both old and new wood is very nice.

Chris

[roamer46]

Thanks nuhobby!

Before I can splash the boat, she's gotta have helm doors. But before she can have helm doors, I have to make helm door openings. So I took the last of the big sticks of mahogany out and machined them down to make timbers for the interior portion of the helm slider door openings. I had a bit of a machine SNAFU that needed fixing but eventually got some pros to help get it squared away. Note to self: next time an unmarked 220v motor capacitor dies, don't guess what the rating is!

Anyway, we're still making progress and things are looking good.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Door Frames in Heavy Mahogany

Cheers,
Q

I started with this


And ended up with these

[algale]

Keep up the good work, roamer!

[roamer46]

I'm doing my best!

I got the three mahogany plywood panels cut and fitted for the transom. The curve of the deck made those more challenging than you might think. But they turned out OK.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Transom Mahogany Panels

Cheers,
Q

[roamer46]

I made some solid mahogany filler pieces to fill a gap between the aluminum transom step-through and the plywood. They're only three little pieces of wood, but getting the fit just right was surprisingly time consuming.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Transom Door Step-through Mahogany Filler Pieces

Cheers,
Q

[roamer46]

With almost all of the remaining aft deck mahogany pieces cut and dry-fitted, I finally got around to varnishing them with six coats of 2-part ICA base coat. I did it in two sessions of three coats each, and sanded with 220 between the two sessions. While waiting for the dust to settle before applying the second round of ICA, I installed some of the aft deck mahogany pieces I varnished a while back. As more and more of the aluminum framing and spray foam insulation gets covered, this just keeps getting prettier and prettier.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Varnishing the Last of the Aft Deck Mahogany

Cheers,
Q

Six coats of ICA catalyzed clear varnish


Installed aft deck mahogany pieces

[roamer46]

The ribbon stripe mahogany plywood across the transom, the big mahogany door frames at the helm doors, and the zigzag floor boxes are permanently installed! That turned out super nice!

I also decided on some major shifts to make life more sustainable while I'm going through the discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination complaint process against my former employer. I moved my former knockabout/liveaboard boat in the Swamp to a much more pleasant and cheaper location far away from the nastiness in DC. That boat will be going up for sale in the spring and the Roamer should be splashed shortly thereafter. Please keep your fingers crossed that the goddess of the seas doesn't decide to haul back and kick me in the nether region again for getting too far ahead of myself.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing Pretty Aft Deck Mahogany

Cheers,
Q

[roamer46]

There are just a few jobs left and the aft deck will be done. One of those involved making moldings for the transom threshold/step-thru. My ShopSmith bandsaw came in very handy for making this. Unfortunately, I goofed up when I was >this< close to being finished with one of the more complex pieces, and had to start over. But they ended up looking really nice.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Transom Threshold Moldings

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

[algale]

First rate work, as always! Looking forward to the splash!