1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Back to the V-berth Cabinet

Now that the galley-side of the V-berth door opening is topped with mahogany veneer, I got back to work on the last cabinet in the V-berth.

When last we saw this cabinet…it was topless!

There are times when I need a bigger framing square

And there are times when I wish my Makita was a plunge saw

I’m getting pretty good at pivoting the saw squarely down onto the track, which has the same effect as a plunge saw. But a real plunge saw would be best for these kinds of cuts. Unfortunately, they don’t offer the plunge saw with an 8-1/4″ blade, and as a weekend warrior I can’t justify buying another saw.

The rough-cut cabinet top

Next, I dry fitted the mahogany cleats

I level the boat every few months, so the floors are level…same as in a house. So I can use levels when doing the cabinetry, which is something you can’t normally do on a floating boat.

Just about ready

I notched out the back edge to clear the aluminum frame

Not too shabby

Plywood scrap makes a good rabbet gauge

To cut the rabbets for the cabinet top-to-face panel joint, I run my Bosch router along the track for my EZ-One track saw table. To get a tight-fitting rabbet, the height and depth of the cuts needs to be identical on both panels, so I use marks on my handy-dandy plywood scrap to align the panel to the track on both ends, then make the cut.

Just about perfect

By the way, these mahogany cleats are the ones I made from the original toe rails on the boat. You can see what they looked like when we started this project in my introductory article, The Refit Begins. Every time I see that article, I ask myself what the hell was I thinking?!?!

Nice!

Mini-plunge saw cuts the cabinet opening

Better still!

Leveling the cabinet interior panel

 

Mark off the panel position and remove it

Dry fit more cleats, test fit the panel, then glue and screw the cleats in place

Gluing and screwing the cleats on the face panel

Once the cabinet is completely built, I’ll disassemble it and apply mahogany veneers to the exterior faces. The order in which each panel goes back together has to be just right and the fit has to be very good (or better) so the veneered panels come together properly on final assembly. For example, I’d prefer to install the back panel of this cabinet after the top is on, but it won’t fit through the cabinet opening, so it has to be installed before the cabinet top goes on. The order for final assembly will be the face panel, the interior lower panel, the back panel, the top, followed by a filler panel up against the bulkhead. Easy-peasy.

It all needs to slide together and fit perfectly…

kinda like that

Same on the forward edge

Nice fit!

With the cabinet panels all cut and fitting nicely, next I’ll disassemble the cabinet and try out my theory for using epoxy for veneer work. It worked great when I applied 1/4″ ribbon-stripe mahogany plywood to the forward V-berth bulkhead. But veneer is a lot thinner than plywood panels, and epoxy has a tendency of soaking in. I don’t want it to bleed through the backing and stain the wood on the face.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Mahogany Veneers for the V-berth Cabinet