But in drilling through 2 meters of timber, even with all the jigging ... how do they keep the bit from wandering due to the wood grain?

I think one of the things I like best about boat builders is ... they can pretty much figure out a way to do pretty much anything.

KenB

: Boring the hole for the shaft is always a trick, requires a huge
: drill motor, usually use a huge Milwaukee drill and a giant
: drill bit and quite a bit of jigging to hold everything straight
: while it's being done, it's not done by hand by any means. You
: can barely pick up the drill motor and the drill bit let alone
: hold it straight, I've tried :)

: Bill H.