1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Varnishing and Installing More Aft Deck Mahogany

Over many recent posts, I’ve been varnishing lots of solid mahogany pieces that cover up the aluminum framing and spray foam insulation around the windows of the aft deck. Since the floor boxes and transom mahogany panels are installed, it’s time to permanently install the rest of the mahogany.

The transom step-thru threshold parts need varnish

First ICA application of three hot coats looks good

Next day, sand and apply the second run of three coats

Looks good!

I used the process for installing all of the solid mahogany pieces around the aft deck that I’ve used previously.

Step 1–take pretty mahogany that’s varnished on one side

Step 2–Wet out the ugly back side and edges with epoxy to fully seal each piece

Step 3–lightly sand the Awlgrip primer on the aluminum framing, wipe off dust, then apply generous dollops of wood flour-thickened epoxy

The thickened epoxy should be the consistency of somewhere in the range of ketchup to creamy peanut butter

Step 4 involves clamping the piece in place, then carefully wiping up any epoxy that squeezes out. I use a plastic squeegee followed by a swipe with a rag and alcohol to make sure no epoxy gets on the varnish.

Step 5–next day the clamps come off!

Repeat the process for all of the other pieces of mahogany.

That turned out very nice

Port side is done

Sometimes the clamping can get a bit wild

The push stick/clamp spans the aft deck

I clamped together two long pieces of scrap that were thin enough to take a bend. I made the push stick two inches too long or so, then covered the ends with headliner scraps so the sticks wouldn’t scratch the varnish. It had enough spring in it to push the mahogany panel into place and hold it there, but I put another piece of scrap under the push stick to make sure it stayed in place and kept up the pressure.

That is very close to a wrap on the aft deck mahogany. It’s taken a long time, but consider what I started with!

The Roamer aft deck circa January 2008

I used a chainsaw to demolish the former aft deck enclosure…good times…

Man…was that helm station rough or what?

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Helm Doors