1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Radio Box

With the aft deck overhead wiring pretty much done, next I need to make the overhead box t the helm station for the radios and fuel gauge. Fortunately, I’ve got some gorgeous leftovers from resawing the mahogany boards I used for the aft stateroom fascia boards. Those boards were leftover moldings from a golf clubhouse refurb, according to the contractor who was selling them on craigslist a decade ago. I used the 5/8″ flat boards for the fascia panels, which left me with four partially shaped 7/16″ boards that’ll be perfect for this radio box.

The radio box on the boat back in December 2007

I think I can do better.

Partially shaped leftover moldings will make a great radio box

This shows great potential

After tracing the overhead frame curve on the face panel, I cut it with a jigsaw then repeated for the back panel

Cutting the end boards

Getting ready to square up the bottom, face, and back boards

After squaring up the far end and lower ends of the boards, I clamped them and cut the near end with my Dewalt miter saw set to 0°.

Next came the glue-up using US Composites 635 epoxy and 2:1 no-blush hardener

All the joint edges are thoroughly wetted out

Epoxy thickened with wood flour and cabosil makes very strong glue

Bring on the clamps!

I found that using cheap pine boards cut perfectly square help keep the box face and back panel boards square to the bottom while clamping. Without them, the upper edges tended to bow inward.

Not a bad looking joint

I cleaned up the epoxy that squeezed-out then went home

Next day, that’s one sturdy box

I like it!

Next, I cut the holes in the face panel for the radios and fuel gauge

Looks about right

That’s pretty much what I had in mind

Next, sand the bottom panel and edges smooth so the router rides flat

And round the edges with a 1/2″ radius bit

That’s looking great!

I could have reversed the faces of the box end boards so they were flat instead of shaped, but I’ve had those moldings for a decade and thought it was better to let at least part of the shaped portion be visible. It adds a bit of character and there’s a story behind it.