[dogsharks]

People who have been around boats a lot seem to recoil with fear when I tell them how I refinished the interior of my Chris Craft, which is paneled in solid mahogany, with some of the flat sections being high quality "Chris Craft Grade" veneer made up of all mahogany plywood.

I use a traditional varnish to fill the open grain of mahogany, and then I finish it with a wipe on polyurethane by Minwax. It sounds bad, but it works great. The results have been in service for years with NO deterioration. The furniture grade wipe on furniture finish, is so think it can not leave any brush strokes when it dries. It is a great finish!

[St. Valentine]

Is there a particular "Chris Craft color" for the 57-foot Constellation woodwork? If I redo one I want to make sure I redo it the right way.

Also, what gloss varnish do you use on that wood.

[SeaEric]

The original Chris Craft color was a Smokey Brown. Many Chris Craft owners change to a traditional red/brown mahogany stain when they do a refinish. Good old fashioned spar varnish works fine. Choose between a high gloss or satin finish.

Here are some photos of the original smokey, and a refit/refinish in red/brown (with the bulkhead to the galley removed)