I got my aluminum mast partner back from the powder coater recently and dry fit it to the boat. I’m using four 1/2″ bolts to hold it on, so I drilled some 9/16″ holes in the bulkhead and sealed the wood with epoxy. Hopefully I can start painting and reinstall the fittings soon.

First of three rounds of epoxy to seal the bare wood and inside of the holes.

Testing the mast partner

I did have a bit of a disaster before I could dry fit it… I managed to get a bolt stuck in some left over powder coating down in the threaded hole. So I drilled it out with a left hand drill bit, picked out the threads, and then chased the threads with a tap.

Milling the bolt down flat so I can have a good starting point for the drill. You can use calipers to find the center point, but I usually just eyeball it. With a small diameter spotting drill you can get within .010″ without too much trouble.

Sometimes the stub of bolt will come out if you drill aggressively with a left hand bit.

All’s well that ends well.