With the helm bulkhead refreshed with a new sheet of mahogany, I got busy on the cabinet on the starboard side of the helm.
1/2″ ribbon-stripe mahogany ply is rough cut for the helm side cabinet faces
Gotta tighten up that gap at the top of the port-side helm cabinet panel a bit
I broke the panels down with 90° cuts a month or so ago when I was racing against rain from a hurricane to get the plywood inside the tent. But the decks aren’t 90° to the bulkhead. They’re angled, so any water that comes in will flow aft and off the boat.
Gotta love the EurekaZone track saw for making angled plywood cuts
That’s better
Before I glued the veneer panel on the helm bulkhead, I was fitting the side cabinet panels
That’s better
That’s better…time for varnish
Second coat
That one-part urethane Spar Varnish is driving me nuts. It gums up the Mirka Abranet 240 grit almost immediately.
MasterMind plunge saw is a great tool for cutting cabinet door openings
Finish the corner cuts with the Makita jigsaw
The jigsaw blades have a bigger kerf than the little plunge saw.
That’s looking pretty good
Time to make a cabinet box frame
That nasty looking piece of cracked, half-painted 1″ thick mahogany must have come from the OEM forward head enclosure. I saved it because I knew it’d come in handy one day.
Today’s that day.
Chopping up 1/4″ ribbon-stripe mahogany plywood into cabinet box parts
No screws this time
I’m framing out the cabinet box with mahogany solid stock wetted out with US Composites epoxy followed by epoxy thickened with wood flour and cabosil
Next day, it’s all coming together
Next, I’ll varnish the cabinet box panel faces, epoxy the backing cleats to each panel, fit and finish the back panels, then this cabinet’s ready to install.
“Progress”
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Mahogany IV
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Beautiful job! I’ve watched your progress from the beginning and always look forward to your next post. I was wondering if you knew when Roamer changed this model from a 48′ to the 46′ and why. Can’t wait to here those engines run!
Thanks Siah!
I believe it might have been 1964~66 when the Roamers changed from the skinny 48 to the wider 46, but I haven’t taken a deep dive into Roamer history. There’s a fellow I know who HAS, though. He used to have the whole history and lots of other info at http://www.oocities.org/alloyed2sea/History.html, but it looks like that site is no longer online. You could try to reach him at alloyed2sea@yahoo.com.
Cheers,
Q