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1959 Chris Craft Sportsman Time to Stain

1959 Chris Craft Sportsman Time to Stain

Today’s bleaching update follows yesterday’s by a bit over 24 hours. We kept the ’59 Chris-Craft 17-foot Sportsman bathed in bleach from a bit after noon through midnight yesterday.

Even though the surface feels dry to the touch, our moisture meter pegged well above 30 percent everywhere on the decks and covering boards. The wood must gas off much more moisture before we can stain it. As it does, the color becomes more and more uniform.

The bleaching process raises grain while it bleeds the tannin out of the fibers, leaving thousands of little feathers, which must be removed to achieve a uniform color when stain is applied.

The challenge is removing the feathers without cutting through the very, very thin layer of bleached mahogany. Sandpaper, even a very fine grit, is just too aggressive, so we reach for coarse Circa 1850 scuff (Scotch Brite) pads from Jamestown Distributors.

A light scuffing, being sure to only do so with the grain, quickly releases the feathers, and subsequently vacuuming using a bristle tool removes them sufficiently. (You might use a tack cloth, but only if you purchase those that are devoid of wax or oil. Depositing either on the surface guarantees seeing a blotch form because the stain cannot penetrate the deposit. But for now we will wait until our moisture meter reads no higher than 15%.

Then the blonde elements will be stained with Sandusky Paint Company Chris Craft Corina Blonde Filler Stain, followed by a mixture of brown and red mahogany Interlux Interstain.

Be sure to allow several days for the stain to cure, lest your application of CPES pulls the stain and kills color uniformity in the process.

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1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 Bottom Paint!

1946 chris craft brightside u22 bottom painting

Since the last update video, we have applied five coats of Interlux 2000E two-part primer, followed by the requisite blue bottom paint, ePaint’s Ecominder Antifouling Bottom Paint in this case.

One more coat of ePaint Ecominder, a water-based one-part antifouling paint and this 1946 brightside U22’s True 5200 bottom is complete.

What is ePaint Ecominder antifouling paint? Here is what Jamestown Distributors answers:

New ePaint Ecominder is the greenest and most effective copper-free antifouling paint available.

Ecominder uses a copper-free, water-based, zero VOC paint formula that is safe and easy to apply. It keeps boat hulls clean using hydrogen peroxide generated from sunlight and the environmentally preferred booster biocide Zinc Omadine.

Designed for use on all rigid type surfaces including fiberglass, aluminum, and wood, it is compatible over other bottom paint systems, and can even be applied in cool ambient temperatures. It is very popular in the pontoon market due to its compatibility with aluminum substrates. Ecominder is available in a variety of colors including White, Gray, Green, Blue, and Black.

ePaints contain no tin or copper. Instead of following the age-old method of leaching toxicants that persist in the environment, ePaints employ a novel mechanism to control the attachment of fouling organisms. When immersed in oxygenated water, all ePaints photochemically generate minute levels of peroxides. The minute levels of peroxides make the surface inhospitable to the settling larvae of fouling organisms. Hydrogen peroxide is a potent, but short-lived chemical that has traditionally been used as an antiseptic. Peroxides have been demonstrated to be effective antifouling agents. The peroxides do not persist in the environment because they quickly decompose back into oxygen and water by natural ions dissolved in the water.

Because ePaints contains no copper, they are available in white as well as a variety of bright colors. The lack of copper also ensures that ePaints are compatible with aluminum and other metals in the marine environment. This is not the case with copper-based paints that promote galvanic corrosion with metal boats. ePaints are safer for you, your boat, and our environment.

With a home port of Ahmic Harbour in Magnatawan, Ontario, this U22 lives and plays on one myriad of lakes in Canada’s Muskoka lake region where the water remains clear and pristine. By using Ecominder on her bottom, we ensure that, at least she, will introduce no additional copper to Ahmic Lake. That the paint is water-based, has zero VOCs is a plus for us while applying it in the shop. One more coat, then the paper comes off. One the remaining topside Dutchman repairs are executed and the entire surface, including the transom’s, is sanded fair, she will be flipped upright for the first time in over seven months.

We are just beginning to see a glimmer of the finish line peeking over the horizon!

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1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22: How to Paint Bottom

1946 chris craft brightside u22 how to paint bottom

Paint! I could claim that it seems like only yesterday when we launched the preservation of the mahogany (Brightside) 1946 Chris-Craft U22, but I can’t. In truth it’s been a long, long, and sometimes frustrating slog.

As we replaced most of the bottom and transom framing, both chine frames, and most of both chines; and worked to remove the corkscrew and hog from the hull, days, weeks and months flew by. Were we making progress? Yes, but it was so difficult to see and feel any.

Not now! Her True 5200 bottom is complete to the point of applying her Interlux 2000E InterProtect Primer and her Econominder, copper-free, Chris-Craft blue antifouling paint.

The last of four coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer has been applied. Tomorrow, after it has cured, we will hand sand the bottom lightly, thereby preparing a smooth and uniform surface for the first coat of 2000E, which I will apply later today.

We apply the first coat from the keel to the top of the boot stripe, let it cure 24 hours and then mask the boot stripe so we do not build layers beneath the Interlux Brightside Enamel we will use for the boot stripe. Brightside adheres better to Interlux PreKote than it does to 2000E in our experience. PreKote in turn adheres tenaciously to the 2000E.

Four additional thin coats of 2000E will be applied, followed by four coats of Econominder antifouling paint.

Then comes a truly BIG day. We will flip her upright and begin stripping varnish off and bleeding old stain out of the decks and covering boards.

Next comes sanding fair, bleaching, staining and, yes, varnish! Now that will be the day to smile.

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1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 Topside Dutchman Repairs

1946 chrism craft brightside u22 topside dutchman repair

With our 1946 Chris-Craft Brightside U22’s bottom paint is fully cured, our attention turns to the topsides and transom.

Dutchman repairs of dings, dents and gouges will be followed by sanding the surfaces fair, bleaching, staining and sealing with multiple coats of CPES.

Then we will flip her upright and proceed to stripping the decks and covering boards, sanding them fair, bleaching, staining and sealing them with CPES.

Then, finally, finally, finally, we can move towards building what will be 20 coats of varnish.

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1946 Chris Craft Brightside Filling Countersinks with 3M Premium Marine Filler

1946 Chris Craft Brightside filling countersinks 3M premium marine filler

Time to fill a few – thousand – countersink holes!

We use 3M Premium Marine Filler and its associated crème hardener for this purpose.

A caution. Mix the filler in small quantities, maybe about half the size of a golf ball, and drizzle a small dollop of the hardener on it. (If you mixture is noticeably bluish, get spreading NOW because the pot life will be a scant few minutes – 3 – 4.)

John and RJ prefer a yellow body compound spatula to my flexible putty knife, but either can apply the material to the hole.

In theory you make a first pass laying material into the hole, followed by a second one back and 90 degrees from the first. In fact you will, or at least I do, soon discover that three or four swiped removes the excess from the surface surrounding the hole while also filling the hole flush with the surface.

We mask off the seams with narrow blue painter’s tape to ensure that the Premium Filler does not find its way onto the 3M 5200 lying therein. Yes, it will appear to adhere, but be forewarned, it will not and your subsequent “beautiful” bottom paint will end up have splotches everywhere that the 5200 shed the filler.

Allow the first coat to cure, apply a second, and then remove the tape, which reveals more rows of empty countersinks. Yes, the fun is near endless.

Once both sides are filled, fair with a longboard sander and 80 grit, seal all of it with at least two coats of CPES, and begin laying on what will be five coats of Interlux 2000E Two-Part Epoxy Primer (Barrier Coat), followed by the bottom paint of your choosing.

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1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22: How to Install True5200 Bottom Planks

1946 chris craft brightside u22 true5200 bottom planks installed

3M5200, signals a major, major milestone fading into our wake, as we work towards completing this 1946 U22’s True5200 bottom.

Just as this one disappears over the aft horizon, a new one has popped up ahead of us – filling and fairing thousands of fastener countersinks with 3M Premium Marine Filler.

But first we will allow the 5200 to cure, while the Acetone we’ve applied to the seams and butt joints following cleaning with Interlux 333, accelerates the curing process.

Before that can happen, however, each seam and joint must be masked with blue painter’s tape, lest the Premium Filler finds its way onto the 5200. The filler will not adhere well to the 5200, which guarantees flaking paint down the road.

In our experience filling the countersinks requires three applications with sanding between the first and second, and thorough fairing after the third will cure.

But for now she will just sit, and then my fun begins.

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1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 Bottom Planking Update

1946 chris craft brightside u22 bottom planking

This update continues following as we install the starboard bottom planks to our 1946 U22.

Notice the blue painter’s tape we use to mask the seam edge of each installed plank.

Doing so allows the squeeze out from the seams flow onto the tape rather than an already-cleaned and fully-installed plank. We have one partial and one full plank left to install on starboard. We have consumed a bit over 5 cases of 3M5200, four boxes of nitrile exam gloves, 2 gallons of Interlux 333 and over 1,000 fasteners by this point.

Time to finish starboard!

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1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22: How to Plank Bedded in 5200

1946 chris craft u22 plank bedded in 5200

Bedding the bottom planking in a 1/8” thick layer of 3M5200 without making a huge mess and without creating even more work cleaning it up, is perhaps the most critical component of the last “woodworking” step in fabricating a True 5200 Bottom.

Yes, I know we have covered this topic earlier, but it bears repeating. “Frosting” the plywood inner layer with a full 1/8” thick layer of 5200 is critical, as doing so ensures that there are no voids, and that, when fastened down, the squeeze out will fill the seams between the planks.

Fill the seams, yes, but do so without also filling the fastener countersink, as fairing the surface once the 5200 has cured requires that the countersinks be filled with 3M Premium Marine Filler.

Every, and I mean every spec of 5200 must be removed from the countersinks once the fasteners have been driven home.

Our method results in minimal infiltration of 5200 into those countersinks. You will need multiple cases of 5200 on hand. Use mahogany 5200 for forward planks that run upward through the waterline. White, which is much less expensive, if fine elsewhere. My rule of thumb for estimating cases needed is 40 – 60 percent of Length Overall (LOA). Since beam, and therefore the width between chines grows with LOA, I plan on closer to 60 percent for a 22-foot boat like this U22. (I am planning to use 12 cases for her.) In response to the many questions the community has sent my way, here is the “chronology” followed at Snake Mountain Boatworks: • Dry fit and fasten all of the planks with a dozen or so fasteners each; • Drill every pilot hole/countersink now; • Remove the planks one at a time, starting at the keel; • Using a permanent marker, draw an outline of each plank – one side and the butt – before it is removed; • Use these outlines to guide frosting one plank area at a time with a 1/8” thick layer of 5200; • Have at least four boxes of latex or, better, nitrile exam gloves and have a large garbage can nearby; • Apply the 5200 using a pneumatic caulking gun in a closely spaced squiggle pattern; • Spread the squiggles into a uniform layer using plastic spreaders; • Lay that one plank in place and begin inserting silicon bronze wood screws by hand, sinking just enough of them as you go to hold the plank in place; • Begin at the forward end of the planks terminating at the stem, using the length of that plank as the lever to slowly bend it into the correct shape; • Once there is a screw in every pilot hole, each of which has been screwed about 90 percent of the way home, drive all of the screws home; and, finally • Make a first pass using plastic scrapers along the plank’s open edge, and along its seam with the previously-installed plank, scooping all the squeeze out from the surface; • Using Interlux 333 Special Liquid – sometimes called special thinner, and lots of rags, clean and clean and clean until all squeeze out is gone. Time to install the next plank ….

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1946 Chris Craft Mahogany U22 True 5200 Bottom Progress

1946 chris craft mahogany u22 true 5200 bottom progress

Haven’t seen it snow white oak before? Well now you can as flakes fly off the newly fabricated chine under John’s power plane.

The chine must be trimmed to being fair with the bottom planks. John uses the power plane to take the surface down to within 1/8” of the planks. Then he reaches for his favorite “finishing” took, a 3” x 8” Makita belt sander.

By the end of today, he will be finished fairing the new chine. Tomorrow we will work with him as we begin fabricating new bottom planks. (We are saving and reinstalling the three mahogany planks the forward ends of which sweep upward through and terminate above the boot stripe. These have been carefully cleaned, sanded and have had their back sides sealed with CPES.

Additionally, the garboard planks will not be fabricated until all other planks are in place.

That way we can scribe these planks to the actual width and shape remaining after all others are in place. Meranti is our go-to material for bottom planking. Click here to appreciate why and how it differs from genuine mahogany and Sapele.

Working from the chine inward, each plank will temporarily installed, and the garboard plank will be rough cut and then scribed to fit.

All of them will then be released and sealed with three coats of CPES, with the second coat being applied immediately following the first, which delivers enhanced adhesion between coats, and enhanced penetration into the plank’s fibers.

Final installation involves copious amounts of 5200, a continuous layer at least 1/8” thick is required, which translates into cases and cases of 5200. I will be sure we have ten cases on hand, along with at least 1,200 silicon bronze wood screws.

Well, you will see what I mean when we get to that point, but very soon, this elegant girl will be sporting a brand new bottom, on its way to becoming a True 5200 Bottom once we’ve applied five coats of Interlux 2000E Two-Part Epoxy Primer (barrier coat.)

She will be right-side-up before long!

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1959 Chris Craft 17′ Sportsman Stained!

1959 Chris Craft Sportsman Stained

Stained! Finally we see an early hint of here elegance. Yes, the hull’s surface is deadly dull right now, but only until we begin applying Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer.

Because we used Interlux Interstain Wood Filler Stain, we will give it a full week to cure. When we have not done so, we fought the CPES, which pulled the semi-cured stain out of the wood. Brushing the CPES on created the worst problems.

Allowing the stain to cure for a full week stopped the bleeding.

Yes, we have experimented with Interlux Wood Sealer, but, as Don Danenberg has said, it is just not CPES in terms of its performance. Even worse, we tested masking by applying various tapes – blue painter’s, Frog, and even gaffer – to test panels that had been sealed with the Interlux product. In way too many cases, pulling the tape took the sealer with it, leaving dull declivities behind.

That said, we will begin sealing her hull next Monday, applying the first two coats one immediately after the other, per Danenberg’s recommendation.

We may apply a base coat of varnish before flipping her right-side-up, but that’s a decision for some time next week.

Right now, as the Dutchmen begin disappearing with the staining application, it is just super to see her coming back to where she was many decades ago.