1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Transom Threshold Moldings

The aft deck is coming along very nicely, albeit slowly.

I’ve also been busy working on our 1968 Chris Craft Commander 42, getting it ready to put on the market as part of the big transition from a two-Chris Craft family to just one. One of the big success stories there was to bypass the OEM starboard engine oil cooler, which was a big cast iron thing that bolted up to the oil pan, and install an aftermarket one. The OEM one was restricting water flow and, I suspect, not doing a very good job actually cooling the oil. The aftermarket one actually came on the Super SeaMaster twin turbo and intercooled 534ci monsters that were in this Roamer when we got it. With the new cooler installed, the difference in water flow out the exhaust and temperature stability even when running on plane is pretty amazing.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about since we got the Commander, and finally started working on recently, was bringing the old Kohler 6.5kv genset back to life. It didn’t run when we bought the boat, and by the looks of things it hadn’t run in decades–the hour meter only shows 290 on the clock. One of the two previous owners had removed the carburetor, linkage, water pump drive belt and pulleys, and other bits, but none of those parts came with the boat. I’ve been slowly accumulating the parts necessary to put it back together, though not exactly to original condition. The carburetor, for example, is a side draft unit from a later model Kohler; I believe the original was an up-draft version.

But I also wanted to convert it from open, raw water cooling to a closed cooling system with a heat exchanger and antifreeze. I understand open cooling systems on trailer boats, where they get drained at the end of the day once they’re back on the trailer. But I can’t fathom why anybody would want that in a boat that stays in the water all the time, especially if it’s salt or brackish. Anyway, I’m just waiting on a few small parts, then I’ll be ready to fire it up.

Back to the Roamer. While I was working on the transom mahogany panels, I also made the moldings for the transom threshold/step-through.

The transom step-through threshold could look better

Note that, in the picture above, the wood and white painted aluminum aren’t the same height. The wood sits below or to the side of the painted, 3/16″ thick aluminum. So to make a pretty molding that covers that joint/step, the underside of  the molding will have to have a 3/16″ step to it as well. Keep that in mind as you read the rest.

Repurposing 50-year old OEM mahogany

I’m going to use this mahogany board that was originally one of the aft stateroom facia panels that Chris Craft painted white. I think my full-width, varnished mahogany ones look a lot better than the white originals did. I ran this one through the Dewalt thickness planer a few times to get rid of the white paint, but the serial number still remained.

Let the cutting begin!

Good initial fit

Route the ends to match the fillets on the transom

Nice!

Next, I marked off the curve of the plywood panel and cut off the excess.

ShopSmith bandsaw trims the curved edge to match the mahogany plywood

Oops

I had used my little Bosch router to remove excess material from the bottom side of this molding, where it will overlap the 3/16″ aluminum threshold. The next step was to round the top edge of the molding. But there was too little material left below for the guide roller to ride on. When the roller slipped past the edge (two inches from being finished!!!) the little Bosch very quickly turned this complex, nearly finished mahogany molding into scrap.

Deep breath…

Take-home lesson: leave the board thick while rounding an edge with a router bit that relies on a bearing guide, then remove the material from the underside.

So I made another molding…

Nice!

Great fit!

Bottom molding is done

Starboard molding is rough fitted

Little curved cuts on the bottom match the bottom molding

Port side molding is last

Nice!

Since these moldings are in a ‘rough service’ area, I decided to treat them as replaceable maintenance items. So instead of epoxying them permanently in place, I’ll use traditional screws, bungs, and caulk.

These are very complex pieces of mahogany

Done!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Varnishing and Installing More Aft Deck Mahogany

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: New Tool–Dewalt DW734 Thickness Planer

As I learn more about woodworking, I’m finding that I need more and more toys tools. This time around, I got myself a new thickness planer. I decided on a Dewalt DW734 as a new tool-of-the trade, and I’m happy with it so far. But after problems I had with snipe when using an old Delta planer, I decided to make an infeed-outfeed table extension. Snipe is the unfortunate removal of precious wood that happens when the lumber isn’t fed into planers perfectly in line with the planer table. There can be several different causes of snipe, including cutter head movement, shaky hands, short infeed/outfeed tables. When the board doesn’t go in straight and smooth, the blades dig out a little hollow a short distance from the ends of the board. It can be cut off or sanded out, but it’s better just not to have snipe to begin with.

My brand new Dewalt DW374

This unit has a lot of slick features that are a huge improvement over the old Delta: three blades vs two; bigger integral in- and out-feed tables that fold up rather than storing separately; a locking mechanism for the height adjustment; much better dust collection; real handles; and a very handy cut depth gauge.

Out of the box, the feed tables needed adjustment

The gap under the straight edge indicates the extension isn’t in line with the main table.

Gap’s gone…good to go

Material Removal Gauge is pretty slick

One pass cleans up some old mahogany

Two passes makes it look nice!

This piece of mahogany was part of the accent strip that goes around the cabin top exterior. It hadn’t been varnished in 30+ years. The planer took off the oxidized wood and left a very smooth surface that’s ready for varnish if I wanted. I was pleasantly surprised to see no snipe even with just the factory feed tables. But this is a lightweight board and I’ll be working with long pieces of 8/4 (~2″) thick mahogany for some of the things I’ll be making soon. A proper feed table should help ensure I get no snipe.

One sheet of 3/4″ pine plywood will become the extended in- and out-feed table

I ran the side pieces through the planer to make them exactly the same height.

Pocket screws will hold it all together

That’s a lot of pocket screw holes front and back

I use the interior screw holes to attach the sides to the bottom. Then I put the top on and use the exterior screw holes to fasten it.

Boom…done

I think I’ll end up using epoxy on these joints and also to seal up everything but the infeed and outfeed surfaces and the surface where the machine sits. The height of the table top perfectly aligns with the planer now. I’m concerned that a couple of coats of epoxy could throw it off, which could lead to snipe.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making Solid Mahogany Corners for the V-berth Cabinets