On the Roamer, the salon entry folding hatch turned out very nicely. When last I posted, the hatch panel and solid mahogany pieces were all cut and fitted to the opening in the dashboard.
The folding salon hatch is looking good
The main hatch hinge needs something solid and flat to attach to
That might do the trick
Mark off the excess
My Eureka-Zone track saw is great for making angled cuts on plywood or solid stock
Perfect!
Install a couple of screws to hold the hinge to the mahogany
Next, I clamped the hinge to the hatch panel and installed some screws
Looks good!
Nice!
Next, I cut a slot in the leading edge of the hatch panel closest to the salon door
I’ll use an epoxied spline joint to attach the panel to the solid mahogany piece there.
Looks good!
I cut a corresponding slot in the mahogany…
…then sliced off a piece of 1/4″ plywood for the spline
Test fitting is done
Next I applied four coats of varnish to all the pieces.
It turned out pretty good!
This is just friction-fitted together, but it looks good
Another instance when I surprised myself with how well something turned out!
Next, I glued everything together with wood flour-thickened epoxy
Glued and clamped
Next day, it’s ready to be unclamped
I applied two more coats of varnish once all of the epoxy work was done.
Installing the center hinges
Chris Craft used chromed bronze screws everywhere. I get close to the same appearance with 316 stainless after a few seconds on a buffer pad.
Ta-Dahhhh!
Remember, this is what I started with:
The gap between the closed door and the hatch is 0.01″
That’s a wrap for the salon hatch for now.
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Mahogany Plywood Install II
1969chriscraftroamer46 