1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Finishing the Salon Settee Structure

When I last posted, the salon settee base structure panels and corner pieces were cut and dry fitted, the 16k Flagship Marine AC unit was installed under the settee, and I’d rebuilt the settee drawer. All I needed to do for now is mix some epoxy and glue it all together.

Dry fit complete; ready for final assembly

I wetted out all joints with US Composites 635 epoxy

Next I added wood flour to the epoxy

When the epoxy has the consistency of creamy peanut butter, it makes a very strong bonding agent. I applied that to the joint surfaces, then put the pieces together, using a squeegee and alcohol on a rag to clean up any glue that squeezed out.

The back panel and corner piece are glued up

Next I installed the AC duct inlet face

That’s a nice joint

Next I glued up the second corner piece and drawer panel

Piece-by-piece, I glued the settee structure together

The final panel is glued in place

With the settee base assembled, I next went to work on the structure for the back of the sofa.

Reusing old mahogany

I reused one of the solid mahogany steps that originally went to the V-berth to make an angled end panel.

That cleaned up real nice

Fitting the top piece to the curved salon wall panel

Dry fit is coming along nicely

Next I wetted out the Tricel panel edge with epoxy

I had a stash of 3/4″ panel cap moldings that I made years ago

The varnished mahogany cap moldings look a lot better than the Tricel  honeycomb core!

I glued the panel cap moldings all around

Next, I dry-fit the second solid mahogany top piece

With all of the pieces cut, I stained everything and coated with ICA base coat clear

Next day, the ICA was cured and ready for sanding and a second coat

The joints got wetted out with epoxy, then I applied thickened epoxy

That turned out nice

It was tricky making this joint pretty

Clamps and sticks held everything together until the epoxy cured

Next day…that’s a good looking molding

With the wood work done, I installed the thermostat and AC ducting

I also installed electrical outlets in the base panels

Final step: cover everything with cardboard

That’s as far as I’m going to go with the settee for now. The only thing left is cutting the base panels for the cushions. But since the salon is my cabinet-making shop, for now I’ll hold off on that until I’m done with all of the other joinery.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the Aft Stateroom AC Installation