1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Side Cabinets

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. And thanks to everyone who hit the tip jar! I really appreciate it!

With the aft deck headliner finally done, I next want to wrap up the cabinets on either side of the helm.

Cutting cabinet door holes

While the solid mahogany prep work was being done for the headliner install recently, I was busy cutting all sorts of plywood panels for these cabinets.  When it came time to varnish, there were so many pieces scattered around the aft deck, galley, and salon that I almost ran out of places to put the wood. I knew these cabinets were coming up, so I rough cut some 1/2″ ribbon stripe panels. With two coats of matte spar varnish rolled, tipped and fully cured, I finally got around to making the final cuts.

Mini plunge saw makes the long cuts, jigsaw finishes the corners

Starboard side cabinet panel face is done…time to glue all of the inside pieces up

It’s basically a 3D jigsaw puzzle

Like other cabinets/cubbies I’ve built on the boat so far, I want to be able to access the space behind the face panel should a need arise someday. On both sides of the helm I’ve got either antenna cables or electrical wiring that run behind these cabinets. I hope I never have to dig into that again, but if I do it’ll help if these cabinet interiors can be completely removed easily.

Side panels go in first, then the top, then the bottom

The panels are all friction-fit, just enough to hold them in place until the back panels go in, which locks it all together.

Two screws will hold the back panels in place

Kinda like that

I decided to put two screws in the top panel, too, to make sure it doesn’t shake free.

Laying on the last coats of spar varnish

Once the varnish cured, it was time for the final install

To avoid having to install bungs, I only used screws at the top of the panel, which will be covered by a molding. To secure the panel to the vertical cleat on the helm bulkhead and horizontal one on the teak deck, I wetted out the contact areas with epoxy, then used epoxy thickened with wood flour and fumed silica as the glue to hold them together.

Next day, the interior goes in

And just like that…

More ugly insulation and rough fiberglass gets hidden behind beautiful mahogany

I plan to install a shelf, which will hide the screw heads, and one day I’ll turn the cut-out panel into a door. But that’s detail work that can happen anytime.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Applying Mahogany Veneer to the Port Side Helm Bulkhead