My main focus now is getting the portholes installed. My painter’s schedule hasn’t synched with mine yet, so I’m temporarily stalled in the V-berth. The new mahogany panel that I’ll bond to the bulkhead there is ready for paint, but until that happens I don’t want to cut the hull side pieces. Any change in that bulkhead panel position will affect the fit to the side panels, and I don’t want gaps. So, I went back into the aft stateroom and started cutting the 1/4″ mahogany plywood that will surround the rest of the porthole openings. I did this before on the two aft-most holes a while back. This time, I started with the aft head.
Shiny Awlgrip in the aft head
The jet bath is awaiting installation, but it’s in the way
First, protect the walls
That floor plastic is expensive, so I reuse it when possible
The Dust Deputy and a remote control are excellent vacuum upgrades
The tub is finally out of the way
Next, I need to pull a sheet of 1/4″ mahogany plywood from the stack
What a pain in the @55! The wood sure is pretty, though
Mark the plywood for length and line it up with the Eureka Zone tracksaw track
That tracksaw is a great tool. You get super precise cuts, and the setup for each cut is very fast.
Almost ready to cut
Adding tape here drastically reduces dust
Ditto for the other side
With the vacuum on, those few little flecks are all the dust that escapes
After cutting to the right length, the next cut splits the panel
Port and starboard porthole surround panels
Too long to fit
This is a boat, so nothing is ever perfectly square. I learned a while back to cut panels like this slightly oversized, then trim to fit as necessary. Once you make the cut, you can’t add material back if the panel it joins to has a slight curve or angle to it.
Knocking off 1/8″ at the bottom, tapering to zero at the top
The tracksaw is great for making quick cuts at any angle. You can’t easily do this kind of cut with a tablesaw.
Nice fit
I ran around to the outside, and traced the porthole outlines onto the panel.
Traced outline
Ready for the jigsaw
Boom! Done. Ready for ICA clear coat
Not a bad fit.
Once this panel is clearcoated with ICA, I’ll epoxy seal the edges and backside, then insulate the back of the panel like I’ve done on all other panels that face the hull. Since the bathtub/shower will be a source of high humidity here, I’ll bed the edges of the panel with Sikaflex and cover the joints to the walls with mahogany quarter-round molding.
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Porthole Surround Panels II
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Q, she’s starting to look like a boat! I’m getting excited for you. Quick question, the triangular space above the panel you cut in the aft head…what do you do to fill it?
Thanks!
The space above the panel has three frames that attach the hull to a longitudinal support beam 2′ or so inboard of the hull. One flat panel of mahogany will attach to those frames and the beam. I think the triangular appearance was a trick of the camera.
Cheers,
Q