1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Starboard Salon Cabinetry

It’s absolutely miserable in the tent. During the winter, it’s so cold the epoxy doesn’t kick for days on end. During the summer, even on pleasant days it’s so hot and humid inside that unless I’m in the direct path of a blast of air from a fan, I get drenched with sweat and can’t handle wood without dripping on it. Fortunately, I keep plugging along and am getting closer to the time when the Roamer can finally come out of the tent. Along those lines, I wrapped up the ‘behind the scenes’ panel installation in the salon. Booyah.

Inside the cabinetry, we’re ready to frame out the ceiling cleats

The 1″ x 1″ mahogany cleats need to be cut at an angle that lines up with the panel mating surface on the other side

And notches get cut out for the hull framing

After drilling and countersinking the screw holes, I wetted out the cleats with epoxy, applied more epoxy  thickened with wood flour, then screwed it all together.

Next the insulated ceiling panels got glued and screwed in place

One more panel and it’s done

Sticks and a glue gun help make a pattern

Transfer the pattern to 1/4″ Douglas fir marine plywood

The EZ-One track saw and a jigsaw make cutting complex panels pretty easy

Next, cut Buffalo Batt non-woven fabric insulation for the back-side

Glue and screw the framing in place

I wetted out the panel and pressed the insulation in place. The next day, I was coating another panel with white tinted epoxy, so I slathered a heavy coat on this panel, too. It turned out pretty nice, but I wasn’t thinking/forgot that the other ceiling panels are all coated with clear epoxy.

Nice white panel!

I’m such a clown…

In retrospect, I probably should have tinted all of them white, but it’s too late. Plus, none of these panels will be visible when the cabinet doors are opened. I plan on making pretty cabinet interior boxes, so the color of these insulated panels doesn’t really matter. Still…

Looking forward

Goofy color mis-match or not, that’s a wrap for the insulated paneling in the salon. All of the toe rail bilge ducts in the salon are waterproof and ready for service. This is a big step forward.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Back Into the V-Berth