General fire extinguisher

The correct brass fire extinguisher is needed for a boat restoration. Dan Sakas in California (www.vintagefe.com) has done all the research on the type of fire extinguisher used in Chris Craft's from the late 20' to the 60's.

Post-war extinguishers are fairly available on eBay. But a complete show quality pre-war with the correct bracket is rare at best. Dan has collected them for years, and had the one I needed for my project. It's not cheap, but well documented and great work on the restoration.

Very good looking with the blue and the black imprint.

Not much, but a little woodworking.

Not much time for boat work. Kids, house renovations and "pays-the-bills-work" have me plenty busy this spring, And will keep me busy for the 1. half of the summer too. But today, I just had to go out in the shop to cut some wood. Not much, but at least I have the feeling that I'm actually working on this thing.

Last fall, I took the liberty to round the cross member for the 1. frames. In all logic, this looks more correct and craftsman's like. But, its been haunting me, will the judges see it? Well, now it's done, back to the original, even though it don't look right.

My "improved look":

Original design:

Shiny but broken

Well, this is what you get working with 70 + year old sh*t (I mean things, of course). The prop is nicely polished up, but I found a thin crack 3/4 through the hub.

I'm trying to find someone that could repair it, since it is the original 1058 Chris Craft prop. But no luck so far. Anyone with a good contact, please speak up. My guess is that I'll need to get a new one.

Spit-shine.

More work on the hardware. All the brass hardware is black and pitted after 70 years. So I bought a buffer from Grizzly to work on it this winter. First I bought a $80 "heavy-duty" 8" version from them, and as I should know by now, cheap stuff don't work. After 20 minutes it sounded like cold starting a 80's Mercedes Diesel engine.

Hats off for Grizzly, they took if back under warranty, and even refunded the return shipping. I could even upgrade to the $275 version. It has a 1 1/2 hp engine, long extended shafts and work like a dream. But, this is dirty work though.

Here's before and after pictures:

Mahogany story

After waiting 9 weeks, I got a reply back from the USDA Forrest Service on the type of mahogany I looked at in my mechanic's shed this winter. It is of the Swietenia family, a genuine Mahogany, like Honduras Mahogany. It does not come like a big surprise, as the grain pattern and color was much darker than Philippine Mahogany.

However, ML Condon Lumber in Stormville got in 4 bundles of 16/4 Philippine last weeks. As far as I know, this is the first time this has been available in the last 10+ years. So, I was there today to pick out my 16" wide by 15' long piece for my coverings boards.

It feels good to get the correct wood specie used original, though, I think the wood had a much deeper red color 70+ years ago. I guess it won't matter that much since it will be stained with a Walnut color.

Soreng switches

Winter, and too cold to work outside in the garage on the boat hull. Spending free time scouting eBay for much needed parts. Was able to buy some rare original Soreng switches needed for a correct restoration. These have small knobs, knurled nut and a round body. California Classics offer a reproduction version, but with the later square switch body, and at $66 each.

Some cleaning and re-chroming the knobs, these will look new.

I'm ready for Mt. Dora!

Plane tickets booked, rental car reserved and I'm ready for the sun, boats and fellow woodyboaters.