I’m on a roll with these cabinet interiors. There was a bit of a learning curve on the salon aft cabinet, but the salon forward one was a relative breeze. The galley cabinet is the most complex, though. There are lots of pieces and they only fit in the one spot each one was fitted to…nothing on this boat’s square!
The ugly galley cabinet
I roughed up the interior with a grinder and corner sander
Wetting out all the panels with epoxy
Just a couple of panels left
Varnished panels warp
I’ve learned that thin mahogany plywood warps when you put varnish on only one side. Even perfectly flat panels get a wow to them if you varnish one side. It’s not bad with urethane-based varnish, like the Minwax Spar Varnish I’m using here. They get a real banana in them when I used water-based Minwax urethane (which I’ll never do again). So once the panels and cabinet interiors were nicely wetted out with epoxy, I troweled on just a bit of wood flour-thickened epoxy as glue, pushed the panels into position, wiped up the joints with alcohol, then clamped everything in place.
Maximum clampage
Next day, F-clamps for the leading edge of the next panel
The 1/8″ plywood scraps also make good push sticks for places where conventional clamps don’t work. They’ve got just the right amount of spring.
More clamps for the last of the galley cabinet interior panels
With everything clamped in place, I headed home and came back the next day.
Clamps off!
Good lookin’ cabinet!
All I need to finish these panels are two solid mahogany fiddles to cover the leading edge of the shelves. That’s a super low priority that I’ll deal with after the boat splashes … someday.
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing More Varnished Mahogany Panels in the Aft Salon Cabinet
1969chriscraftroamer46 
I admire your passion, thoroughness and the sharing your Roamer refit. The detail in which you are communicating as you go is very good information. I have an aluminum Roamer (34 foot) that has been on the hard for years. Haven’t examined it close (we reside in different states) other than to realize that the mahogany in the cabin was painted over with white paint, – I think. I hope someday to be able to give it the TLC it deserves and bring it back to its original beauty….so I can put it in my bedroom next to my bed. The closest water is miles away. That is unless someone else wants to preserve a beauty of decades past and makes me an offer I can’t refuse. Actually it is a nice fresh water alum Roamer. I wish you continued energy with the necessary resources so you can achieve success and make your dream come true.
Roamer Ron
ronstaz@gmail.com
Ron, thank you so much for the kind words. Let me know if you ever start blogging about your refit!
Cheers,
Q