Installing a Painter Ring Through the Stem of a Boat - Tips to do it right.

Need to drill a long hole straight through thick wood and land exactly where you want on both sides? In this episode of Nomad Boatbuilding, I show the method I use to drill accurate bolt holes through centerline boat parts like stems, transoms, and skegs—without relying on a jig or drill press. Follow along as I install a bronze painter ring in the stem of a wooden boat and cover pilot drilling, homemade spear-point bits, sighting techniques, auger bits, counterboring for nuts and washers, and simple tricks to recover when things don’t go perfectly. You’ll also learn how to counterbore without specialty tooling and my simple dowel trick for guiding Forstner or spade bits. Need a counterbore? I get mine from these suppliers: McMaster-Carr: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/counterbores/drill-bit-counterbores-for-wood~~/ Top-Notch fasteners: https://tnfasteners.com/product/counterbores-x-type/ 🌐 Website: https://nomadboatbuilding.com/ ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nomadboatbuilding #boatbuilding #woodworking #drillingtips #woodenboat #boatbuilder #woodworkingtips #diyboat #howto #woodworkingprojects #marineconstruction Chapters 00:00 Why drilling long straight holes is difficult 00:19 Installing a painter ring in the boat stem 00:56 What a painter ring does and why it matters 01:19 The challenge: drilling long holes straight 01:26 My secret weapon: shop-made spear-point pilot bit 02:23 Avoiding hidden fasteners & choosing the right location 02:56 Aligning centerlines for accurate drilling 03:22 Why square-to-surface matters more than perfectly plumb 03:58 Body positioning for better drill control 04:38 Starting the pilot hole & correcting angle early 05:21 What to do if you hit a fastener 05:39 Fixing holes that land slightly off-center 06:44 Evaluating accuracy & why 1/16" is acceptable 07:11 Drilling the final hole with an auger bit 08:05 Using a twist drill to clean up alignment 08:36 Counterboring for nuts & washers explained 09:28 Measuring counterbore depth with a feeler gauge 10:48 Cleaning up the counterbore with a Forstner bit 11:34 No counterbore bit? Alternative methods that work 12:06 Dowel trick for guiding Forstner or spade bits 12:34 Locking the nut & final fitment tips 13:02 Why removable wooden plugs beat epoxy 13:40 Final install considerations for the painter ring 14:07 Wrap-up & next video