Wood veneer headliner for the BellBoy?

[BellBoyBob]

Hi all:

I have seen on Marty's restorations, a wood ceiling in the cabin of the Farallon and, I think a BellBoy. What have any of you used? I would think 1/8" mahogany veneered ply stained to suit? My BB original 50 year old headliner is no more. Pulled it off due to rips and mold. I thought with the wood cabin floor a bit more contrast other than off-white paint might be nice?
What do you think?

Bob

[Bigfoot]

I think wood would be awesome. I just went through your progress and I like this boat hull. I think 1/8 thick strips of solid wood for a head liner would great with some interlux schooner varnish.. Rip the strips to 1 1/2" or something similar, start from the center and glue them up there some how, tape the wood till the glue dries and do a few more strips. It may take a few weeks. I would first apply the raw sanded wood. Next sand everything smooth so all the strips are even by starting with 60 grit using a random orbital sander (milwaukee $69) and finishing with 120 grit. then dust it off with compressed air, prep stain, varnish. We can go into detail if you ever want to but I dont claim to be anything more then a hobbyest, is that even a word, lol The pros can give the real advice but I know how I would do it though. I might do this in a cuddy of mine. Hey, check out the back of a set of boat seats I made last year, see the detail. I used cherry wood 5/16 thick laid up on ply, Mike

PS I would love to hear what and how others go about this since I am a wood lover guy...Notice the ghost I got in the 5th pic...

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Headliners...

Bob...and Bigfoot -

Nice job on your boat, Bigfoot; lots of work, but a beautiful result.

Bob, most of the headliners we install are 6mm ply--either with a Meranti face veneer or light-colored maple. When we use Meranti (mahogany), we finish with three coats of Cetol (no stain), but when employing the maple sheet we stain it with Daly's #31 Mustard, then topcoat with Cetol, which gives a nice satin finish. The result with maple and the mustard stain is just like the golden-colored birch panels of 1940's travel trailers...and the golden color looks great when trimmed with rich, brown-red mahogany.

Here are some photos showing the interior of Bruce Drake's 1956 Bell Boy 21 express (first three images), and Allan Martin's 1959 Dorsett 21 Farallon, just to give you the general idea.

For interior side panels, we use a particular 6mm sheet that has a ribbon-grained mahogany face veneer. You can see an example in the last photo, showing interior side panels of Allan Martin's Dorsett. (We also used that sheet in the cockpit area of Bruce's BB21.)

The ribbon-grained ply is not generally available, but we pounced on several sheets when somebody's custom order was cancelled at Edensaw Woods Ltd., in nearby Port Townsend.

- Marty

[Helmar]

Bob...and Bigfoot -

Nice job on your boat, Bigfoot; lots of work, but a beautiful result.

Bob, most of the headliners we install are 6mm ply--either with a Meranti face veneer or light-colored maple. When we use Meranti (mahogany), we finish with three coats of Cetol (no stain), but when employing the maple sheet we stain it with Daly's #31 Mustard, then topcoat with Cetol, which gives a nice satin finish. The result with maple and the mustard stain is just like the golden-colored birch panels of 1940's travel trailers...and the golden color looks great when trimmed with rich, brown-red mahogany.

Here are some photos showing the interior of Bruce Drake's 1956 Bell Boy 21 express (first three images), and Allan Martin's 1959 Dorsett 21 Farallon, just to give you the general idea.

For interior side panels, we use a particular 6mm sheet that has a ribbon-grained mahogany face veneer. You can see an example in the last photo, showing interior side panels of Allan Martin's Dorsett. (We also used that sheet in the cockpit area of Bruce's BB21.)

The ribbon-grained ply is not generally available, but we pounced on several sheets when somebody's custom order was cancelled at Edensaw Woods Ltd., in nearby Port Townsend.

- Marty

HEY :BigHappy1: I remember that Bell Boy project. In fact most of it :cool1:

[BellBoyBob]

Marty, these are just gorgeous, these interiors. My headliner was originally tacked around the perimeter and finished off with 5/8" Hidem vinyl. If I were to use the removed headliner as a template, would you install in halves, joined down the middle of the cabin ceiling, fore and aft? then attach the trim piece to hide the seam? Would you screw it to the cross ribs of the ceiling? What about the edges? I would have to move the one dome light that is located in the center of the cabin ceiling. No big... how did you manage the wood headliner edges as they meet the hull cabin top. On my 404 they would join the hull at a cir 30 deg. angle - where the angle back of the cabin front windows are. I think I would like to give it a try!

Thanks,

Bob

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Installing Headliners

Bob -

Generally, when you make a pattern for the new headliner--either using the old one or starting from scratch with cardboard or doorskin--you need to make exact locations of all roof beams that you can screw into when supporting the new headliner panels. Yes, most boats are easiest to do in two panels, split down the centerline, with a radiused covering board to hide the seam (and sometimes also hide a run of wiring that goes forward from the bulkhead to serve dome lights, cabintop running lights, horns, searchlights or what-have-you.

When you attach the panels, the edges generally are sprung into place around the perimeter and don't have to be attached, per se, since they're held by pressure on the bent sheet. (Sometimes you need to run a molding-trim piece across the aft end of the headliner, up against the bulkhead, but forward and side sections most often are held firmly without trim or fasteners.) You can use hidem along the edges, or just seal and varnish the whole thing without such trim.)

Cetol produces a nice, satin finish on the new headliner; it's easy to apply and you never need more than three coats. (Brush marks rarely show with the product, which is also nice.)

Finally, you might want to use cupped brass or stainless washers with each screw going into the cabin beams. They held hold the panels better than small screw heads, and they offer a nice, finished look.

Go for it, Bob--you'll love the results.

- Marty

[BellBoyBob]

Marty:

Where can you get the metal edge strip for the table and sink surfaces? The BellBoy had an original stripping that was tacked on every few inches. I noticed that you use this material on the BB 21' cabin table and sink surface.

thanks,

Bob

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Aluminum trim

Bob -

I don't have the name right now, but we went online and found the vintage, 50's Diner-style scalloped aluminum trim from an outfit in New Jersey (or someplace like that). It isn't something you'll find at the hardware store or any marine store--but if you do a search for something like "vintage aluminum trim," "vintage diner," "vintage trailer trim" or some such, you'll probably find the stuff online.

If you don't locate some in a few days, get back to me and I'll dig through the BB21 files.

- Marty

[FINS]

Here is the supplier that I found for Cole's Skeeto decktrim that is the same as the table trim you showed. After pricing it with shipping, we just polished what we had.

metal edge trim

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Aluminum Trim

Brian -

Yes, that's the outfit we bought from. Not cheap, but a beautiful product. We opted for the 3/4" metal banding described on their website, since we didn't have anything old to restore and had to start from scratch.

- Marty

[Tim McCrain]

I can second Marty's comment, I've ordered from them and been very happy with the products.

Tim

[BellBoyBob]

Thanks guys for the help. I will check out the site.

Bob