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How to Install Bottom Battens in a True 5200 Bottom – 1938 19′ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout

1938 chris craft runabout bottom battens

As is typical of all Chris-Craft utilities and runabouts, this 1938 19’ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout, Flyin’ By’s hull is comprised of a series of heavy frames to which the bottom is fastened. A series of battens run athwart between the frames, thereby adding substantial stiffness to the bottom.

Simply put installing battens is a thankless, two-person challenge. Here are the steps for installing one batten at a time, followed by filling the countersinks, fairing the bottom, sealing, priming and applying bottom paint. The process is described for one batten, one that will be repeated for all of them:

Installing the Battens.

  • From the inside, drill two pilot holes towards the ends of the batten. • Using a straightedge and pencil, scribe a line between the pair of holes.
  • Drill holes along the line, about 1.5 inches apart using a countersink pilot drill.
  • Dry fit the batten and, while the guy underneath presses it in place, drill two holes from the outside in through two of the countersinks.
  • Sink screws through those two holes. We use #6 x 1 or x 1-1/4, depending on the thickness of the inner plywood skin plus the exterior planks.
  • Stand the remaining screws through the remaining holes and drive them home.
  • Release all of those screws for now.
  • Butter the batten’s bottom face about 1/8” thick with 3M 5200 – mahogany.
  • Hand it to the guy beneath the boat, who presses it in place.
  • Starting with the two end screws, and remembering to stand screws in all of the holes, drive all of them in place. (Standing the screws in the holes first ensures that fountains – volcanoes? – of 5200 do not squirt though the other screw holes as you work along the batten.)
  • Repeat for all battens on both bottom faces. Flyin’ By has twenty of them per face.

Filling Countersinks and Fairing the Bottom.

Filling countersinks and fairing the bottom is next. We use 3M Premium Marine Filler, available from Jamestown and elsewhere, to fill and fair the countersinks.

Three applications are required. We sand using 80 grit and one of our Festool random orbit sanders after the first coat, just to knock down ridges and what I call overspread.

Once the last application has cured – about 4 – 6 hours – we sand the entire bottom fair using 80 grit on our pneumatic longboard sanders. Declivities may show themselves at this stage, which requires interrupting the sanding as Premium Filler is applied to them. Sealing, Priming and Bottom Paint.

Once the bottom is fair, apply three coats of Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer. Danenberg recommends applying the second coat immediately after the first, so we apply the CPES to one entire face and then return to where we began and apply a second coat.

I know there are other penetrating sealers available, and we’ve tested most of them. Let me just say that we use Smith’s CPES, which is available at good prices from Star Distributing in West Mystic, CT: http://www.star-distributing.com/smit….)

Our go-to primer is Interlux InterProtect 2000E Two-Part Barrier Coat Epoxy Primer because it works

From Jamestown:

Interlux’s Micro-Plate formula creates an effective barrier against water permeation. 2000E may be used above and below the waterline as a universal primer for all surfaces. It is also an excellent primer for all metals and can be used as part of a no sand system.

From Interlux:

  • Two-part epoxy water barrier with Micro-Plates
  • Up to two weeks is allowed between coats of 2000E
  • Now available in two colors, Gray and White
  • Fast drying, easy application
  • Sag resistance to insure the elimination of sags and runs during application

Technically, InterProtect Micro-Plates provide millions of overlapping microscopic plates that create a barrier similar to shingles on a roof. These overlapping Micro-Plates eliminate any direct path for water migration and also improve the sag resistance of the epoxy making application easier.

We will have a gallon each of gray and white 2000E on hand for Flyin’ By’s bottom and chine plank – boot stripe included. Once we’ve applied five thin coats, we will have created an impenetrable barrier against water permeation.

Since Flyin’ By will be dry sailed by her new owners, we will apply three coats of Pettit Old Salem Copper Bronze Hard Racing Enamel, at which point she will sport a True 5200 Bottom.

Finally, she was in show ready condition, with over 20 coats of varnish having been applied and buffed when the moment to flip her arrives. No matter how careful any of us is, and no matter how many pads we placed strategically, Flyin’ By is heavy, and her hull shape presents long sweeping curves. And with three of us working around, under and even atop her, bumps and bangs are all but inevitable.

That said her varnish is scuffed in several places, so we will sand the entire hull flat anew and apply three or so coats of Interlux Perfection Plus Two-Part Varnish to her, and let it clear before she returns to storage.

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1957 Lyman Runabout – How to Varnish update

1957 lyman runabout how to varnish

Happy New Year from RJ, Joe and Michael at Snake Mountain Boatworks LLC!

We spent the first day of 2019 the same way we spent the last day of 2018, making progress bleaching, staining and sealing the 1957 23’ Lyman’s seating components, ceilings, windshield frames, engine box and on and on.

By the end of today we put another milestone in our wake. Her decks, covering boards and dash received their first two coats, on the way to at least 15, of Pettit Hi-Build Varnish. Almost better is having applied several more coats of varnish on most of the components.

The last of the bleaching with Daly’s A & B Wood Bleach is behind us. Tomorrow these components will be scuff-sanded and stained, which will be followed by applying three coats of Smith’s CPES. In answer to several questions, except on very small pieces, we achieve much more uniform CPES layers by using a 3” yellow foam roller in place of a chip brush – which sheds hairs – or a foamy, which can come apart quickly as the foam reacts to the CPES.

For sure she will be in the water in spring 2019!

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How to Install Bottom Planks in a True 5200 Bottom – 1938 19′ Chris Craft Custom Runabout

1938 chris craft runabout install bottom planks

Installing the bottom planks can be tedious and is fraught with all manner of challenges.

First and foremost, unless the planks are dry-fit so that the seams between them are of uniform width, you will all but certainly experience and “Oh X$#%^!” moment when try to install the final, chine, plank.

I cannot tell you how many bottoms we’ve encountered that sport the telltale “skinny plank” along the chine. Failing to fit first, mark the edge of each plank heavily and then obey the lines usually translates into a super wide seam, sometime over an inch, and a plank that does not fit at the stem.

Once again we drop screws part way into all of a plank’s holes before setting it in place, and screw each of them in only part way thereafter. Once all the screws are down far enough that the shanks are in the plank’s holes, begin driving them home. (We work from the middle out, but given how narrow the planks are, you can also work from either, or both ends towards the middle.)

When you clean excess 5200 – that which squeezes out – work towards to ancillary goals. Keep the countersinks free of the 5200 so that the 3M Premium Marine Filler can make a purchase on wood, not on slipper adhesive. And, be sure that all seams are filled fair with 5200.

Clean with Interlux Brushing Liquid 333, and then wipe everything down with acetone, which will accelerate the curing process.

Finally, be patient. I do not care what Interlux says, 5200 can have a mind of its own around curing.

Sometimes waiting 2 – 3 days are fine, but we wait longer, at least a week, before we go at the bottom with sandpaper.

You will be helped with being patient as the countersink filling and bottom fairing process is might time consuming when done correctly. Remember, whether it is 3M Premium Marine Filler or some other fairing compound of your choosing, it shrinks as it cures. You want every countersink filled fair to the plank surface. Apply it twice and then sand everything as smooth as you can with 80 grit – no finer, before applying it a third time and sanding again.

Even though the planks were dosed with three coats of CPES before installation, you have likely sanded into the sealed layers, so applying three more coats is not overkill.

We prime all bottoms with five, not three or four – coats of Interlux 2000E Barrier Coat Primer before applying Pettit Hard Racing Copper Bronze Bottom Paint – three coats.

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1940 Lyman Yacht Tender Paying Sikaflex Into Deck Seams

1940 lyman yacht tender paying sikaflex into deck seams

With her decks bleached with Daly’s Wood Bleach, sanded with 80 grit, stained with a Wood Kote Jel’d stain – red and brown mahogany in a 2:1 ratio – and sealed with three coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer, Joe announced, “Let’s see how my years of window glazing and auto striping experience translate into delivering absolutely knife-edge deck seams.”
Let’s just say that Joe proved himself to be a master seam striper! With RJ assisting, the aft deck is finished and they are pulling tape from the completed foredeck as I type.

My 1940 16’ Lyman Custom Yacht Tender will be ready for varnish next Monday.

Lyman fabricated this model’s decks are simply carvel planked, but without any interior battens. The athwart frames are closely spaced, so the decks are plenty strong, but the seams are completely open and must be filled at least part way to render the decks waterproof.

We are using Mahogany Sikaflex 291 LOT, with the acronym standing for Long Open Time, which gives us ample freedom to work at a measured pace. The seams were filled almost to the top at their edges, but with a concave profile, which is consistent with my research and other boats in this model line built between 1938 and 1940.

Joe began taping using three-quarter-inch Scotch blue painter’s tape, which lines each edge, followed by a one-inch-wide strip that covers the plank completely. He very much wants to share from his experience that pressing the tape down and onto the wood’s surface with pressure across its width is critical to avoiding driving the Sikaflex beneath the tape, which translates into ragged, rather than knife-like edges. (He has one request, “Even though it is more expensive, Frog Tape produces a tighter seal and straighter line than Scotch Blue does. Pressing the Frog Tape down firmly completely seals the edge)

Note to self: order some Frog Tape for the next deck seaming.

All Sikaflex is applied in the same direction, and the tape is pulled in the same direction, from the beginning of each seam at the helm to its terminus at the bow. Doing so ensures that the Sikaflex separates from the tape cleanly and consistently.

Additionally, Joe admonishes that, “The bubble chases the gun. Take great care to cut the tube’s tip at precisely forty-five degrees, with an at most one-eighth-inch orifice. That way, squeezing the gun presses the material down and back into what precedes it. Remember, the bubble chases the gun. Reverse direction at your peril.”

Clean-up uses lots of Interlux Special Thinner 216.

People often ask how long procedures like this one take. Joe spent about five hours yesterday, and he and RJ worked about four hours this morning. The entire process used up about three tubes of Mahogany Sikaflex 291 LOT.
Varnishing her decks, so they can begin catching up to the nineteen coats on her topsides, transom, windshield, engine box and seating components!

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1940 Lyman 16′ Yacht Tender Staining Update

1940 lyman yacht tender staining

With nineteen coats of Pettit Easypoxy Hi-Build varnish applied to her topsides, transom; and engine box, seating and windshield components; it is time to turn our focus to the decks, coamings and rub rails of our 1940 16’ Lyman Custom Yacht Tender with aft-facing aft cockpit.

Lyman offered this basic hull configuration as a yacht tender like mine, but also as a runabout. Whether the aft cockpit faced forward or aft was the buyer’s choice. He or she could also order a windshield that folded down or one that was fixed. Mine is fixed.

My research also suggest that the fore and aft deck seams were sealed with a mahogany caulking material that only filled the seam channels about two-thirds, with the rest left open so she presents herself with strong lines, lines that help offset the reality that she is quite beamy for her length. (We wull use Sikaflex 291 LOT in mahogany.)

Today we are applying Sandusky Chris-Craft red mahogany filler stain? Why not the somewhat browner Lyman mahogany stain? Again what few period photos I can find and the several of these vessels built between 1938 and 1940 tended to have a somewhat red cast, which in this case will complement the blonde Cypress topsides rather nicely.

Additionally, in our experience, the red morphs toward red-brown as we apply the three coats of CPES and the Pettit Hi-Build that will follow.

CPES is next, and will be applied on Monday, the first two coats with the second following the first immediately per Danenberg, with a third coat applied Tuesday morning.

Filling the seams will be next, followed by the initial coats of varnish, a process that will continue until we reach twenty-two or so coats.

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1957 Lyman Runabout – How to Bleach

1957 lyman runabout how to bleach

We have released the 1957 23’ Lyman Runabout’s aft seating, both of the jump seats that John designed and fabricated, and all but the three floor panels beneath the helm station.

Joe D’Avignon, our latest crew member addition, who is also RJ’s brother-in-law, brings years of custom designing cabinets and architectural components, trim and moldings for a firm that executed all tasks using hand tools. Nary a C & C Machine was ever in the shop.

Asked why he wanted to work and grow preserving antique and classic wooden boats, Joe replied, “Unlike windows, doors moldings and the like, where it’s mostly a production process once I designed the piece, with these wooden boats, no two challenges are alike. There are no plans to be reached for, and damn few straight lines. Working at Snake Mountain Boatworks involves everything I love doing in wood without the drudgery of repetition day after day. I can grow here in ways that are just not possible in precision woodworking situations.”

Joe disassembled and sanded all surfaces with 80 grit in a straight line Festool Detail Linear Sander. Each piece in each of the jump seats is unique. Nothing is interchangeable, so Joe’s first question was, “How can do you keep everything straight through the sanding, bleaching, staining and varnishing process?”

A combination of painter’s tape and Sharpies?

Joe, “There must be a better, more permanent but invisible way to do this.

Demonstrating how quickly Joe is becoming an asset for Snake Mountain Boatworks, he found a set of HimaPro wood/metal number and letter stamps on a shelf. Armed with these he proceeded to stamp each piece into the end grain after he sanded it. Voila! Amazon offers this boxed set of stamps. We, as well as folks working on this Lyman in the future will appreciate and benefit from this innovation.

Bleaching with Dalys Wood Finishes A&B Bleach begins this morning. Yes, Dalys is available from Amazon, but we source ours from the company, where you will also find a wealth of useful information.

Among the company’s most critically useful recommendations is, always start from the bottom up, lest you create a sea of white stalactites running down your hullsides and transom that are virtually impossible to erase.

RJ engaged some final helm station component fitting this morning. Next comes releasing the entirety of the new helm station seating and lockers, and then all of the ceilings for final sanding, bleaching, staining, sealing with CPES and varnishing. Welcome aboard Joe!

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1957 Lyman Runabout Decking Time

1957 lyman runabout decking

We’ve just begun, but even laying the ribbon-cut mahogany foredeck panels in place foreshadows just how elegant this old style, narrow strake 23’ 1957 Lyman Runabout will be at the end of her conservation.

RJ jokingly predicts that we will have the fore and aft deck panels anchored down by tomorrow afternoon. What he means is temporarily anchored while we complete the final fitting and sanding in around the perimeters of both decks.

We have stabilized the foredeck’s crown with temporary bracing placed vertically in the V-berth. Once both panels are fastened down along all three sides, the curvature of each panel is secure. Bowing them over the framing also shrinks their width. Once there are secured on both sides, there is no way to force either one flat since the edges cannot spread out. Yes, there will be a very slight bit of settling, maybe an eighth of an inch, which is why the crown is currently exaggerated to that same degree.

The perimeters of the foredeck panels will be bedded in 3M 5200 that we spread on the framing and then secured with #6 Frearson head silicon bronze wood screws along both edges and ring shank nails across the dash. We will not sink any fasteners through the body of either panel, which frees us from filing the surface with puttied fastener countersinks.

Doing so is superfluous as bowing the panels over the framing creates ample down pressure, which forces the panels and frames together. (RJ wins the prize: climbing into the V-berth and cleaning all of the 5200 squeeze-out around the frame members.)

I am getting ahead of my skis, however. Once all four panels have been fitted and secured temporally, they will be released. The edges and undersides will be sealed with three coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES), and their undersides will receive multiple coats of Sandusky Paint Company Lyman Sand Tan bilge paint.

The toe rails will follow. After being sanding in to perfect inside and outside contours and their bottom sides are sealed with CPES, they will be installed with ring shank nails.

The aft deck panels and aft end of the king plank will be treated similarly.

Sealing and installing the covering boards, also bedded in 3M5200 will follow.

Once she is fully decked, all of her horizontal surfaces will be bleached, stained and sealed.

Varnishing is next … can’t wait!

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1957 Lyman Runabout Endless Staining Begins

1957 lyman runabout staining

We’ve just blasted through a major milestone in our 1957 23’ Lyman Runabout preservation! ALL parts destined for her cockpit have been stripped, fabricated where needed, test-installed, sanded and bleached.

If you watch one of her recent videos again, you might conclude, as others have, that there were very few parts involved.

And I’ve received multiple emails suggesting we were just exaggerating what was involved in creating and fabricating a pair of jump seats and entirely reconceived helm station seating and lockers.

Well, all I can tell you is that RJ, Joe and I were shocked this morning after we had laid all these parts out in preparation for launching into staining them on Monday. Who would have thought!? Staining is next and, as is detailed in the clip, we will use Wood Kote Jel’d stain for this task. (Available from Super F Paint and elsewhere).

From Wood Kote:

Basic Use
Jel’d Stain is formulated for interior wood surfaces such as casework, doors, trim, paneling and cabinets. It matches the corresponding colors of Jel’d Stain 550 & 250 and Liquid Stain 550 & 250. Jel’d Stain may be applied to bare or bleached wood. It is compatible with a variety of other Wood Kote products. Please refer to the Wood Kote Schedule of Product Compatibility and Recommended Dry Times. Jel’d Stain DOES NOT comply with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emission requirements for Architectural and Industrial Maintenance coatings (effective 13Sep99).

Advantages

  • Matches Jel’d Stain 550 & 250 and Liquid Stain 550 & 250
  • Easy to apply
  • Fast-drying
  • 2-3 times more coverage than liquid stains
  • No stirring required

Coverage
One application of Jel’d Stain will cover approximately 1250-1500 sq. ft./gal (30,6-36,8 m2/L).

Composition & Properties
Jel’d Stain is a fast-drying semitransparent pigment wood stain. It is intended for application without thinning. If thinning is desired, PolySolvent (mineral spirits) should be used or, if regulations require a VOC-exempt thinner, use AceThin (acetone).

Depending upon the boat you own or are preserving, contacting Mike Mayer, Lake Oswego Boat Company ([email protected]) will likely satisfy all of your staining needs. Working with Wood Kote, Mike offers roster of Jel’d stains that match original stains for Pre- and Post-WWII Chris-Crafts, Gar Wood, and many more.

If you are after superior quality and consistent stain, and preserving your vessel as correctly as is possible, Mike is your go-to source. Yes, you can mix stain colors yourself and maybe even save a dollar or ten, but you will also suffer the consequences.

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How To Remove Bottom Fasteners in a True 5200 Bottom – 1938 19′ Chris Craft Custom Runabout

1938 chris craft runabout bottom fasteners

That Flyin’ By’s bottom was original to the boat is absolutely certain. How do we know for sure? After stripping her bottom’s port face bare, and finding nothing but an original inner layer of 3/16” mahogany laid on the bias, we inspected each frame searching for any evidence of extra screw holes or holes that had been filled during a bottom replacement. No such evidence exists.

Additionally, save for the aft garboard planks, the screw pattern, their sizes and lengths are precisely consistent throughout both bottom faces. The substitution of bronze Reed and Prince fasteners for the original brass slot-headed fasteners tells us that both aft garboards were removed and then reattached at some point.

Nowhere is there any evidence that the inner layer has deteriorated or been replaced. What remains of the original canvas interlayer is somewhere between some and none. Additionally, the original brass screws have been replaced along the keel edge of both forward garboards.

The aft garboards – the #1 planks – and the next ones outboard – the #2 aft planks – lie immediately beneath the engine and transmission, and are sufficiently oil-soaked that their ability to hold 5200 and paint is at best suspect. They must be replaced.

The balance of the original bottom planking is as hard and as sound as the day it left Algonac, MI in 1938. Releasing the screws fastening the bottom is a four-part sequence

  • Using a 3/8” Rotabroach cutter and electric drill set at high speed, drill each countersink until you hear the telltale sound of the steel cutter grinding the head of the brass or bronze (or stainless) screw. Take care here. The Rotabroach is designed for grinding off excess spot weld. The cutters are super hard and super sharp. Applying too much down force or grinding for too long risks rounding off the screw’s head and erasing its driving slots.
  • Reach for a sharpened awl and clean each countersink, paying particular attention to the screw’s slot or R&P driver. Grind through these and you will “enjoy” extracting the screw using one of the damaged screw extractors available today.
  • Blast all residue out of the countersink with an air chuck and compressor delivering at least 110 PSI. (That’s why wearing safety glasses are absolutely required. The particles erupt from the countersink with surprising force.)
  • Using either a slot or R&P driver inserted in a variable-speed impact gun, carefully and slowly tease the screw as it begins backing out of the wood. Trigger control is critical lest you want to destroy the screw’s head and be reaching for the damaged screw extractor.

Voila’! One screw is released. You have only hundreds and hundreds and hundreds to go!

Every screw I’ve released to this point was dropped into a plastic paint pail that now weighs over 20 pounds!

Only a hundred or so to go…

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How to Open Countersinks and Remove Fasteners from the bottom of a 1938 19’ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout

1938 chris craft runabout countersinks fasteners

We clean fastener countersinks using a Blair Equipment 11090N Rotabroach Cutter Kit, which is available from Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Blair-Equipmen…)

Yes, even if a plank will be reused and is filled with either a wood or putty, we remove its wood bungs, but in this application always choose a cutter that is smaller than the diameter of the bungs being removed. The cutter bores through the bung without touching the countersink’s edges and is then cleaned using one of the awls we have on hand.

We are much less careful when releasing failed planking, and often use a cutter one size larger than the diameter of the countersink. The goal here is removing the plank without breaking it so it remains available to patterning.

The air chuck is key here, as RJ demonstrates in the clip. With our compressor set at 110 PSI, the chuck delivers a concentrated blast of air that (almost always) leaves the countersink bereft of waste material.

Finally, if you have a super steady hand, as RJ does, you too can back the screws out with an impact gun, not a hand screwdriver.

When stripping a bottom, be sure to remember RJ’s admonishment. Climb beneath the hull, or down into if she’s not flipped yet, and number the intermediate frames, sometimes referred to as battens.

While we will bed them in 3M5200 during final assembly, they are originally installed by driving screws from outside the hull, through the external planking and inner skin, and into the batten without any adhesive applied to the batten or inner skin.

Numbering these battens before they’ve dropped to the floor and skittered about will save endless time and frustration during reassembly.