It may have gotten to the point where it's easier to take it to a machine shop or call a contractor...or mail it to me..
Sliced open finger early yesterday. So, delaying further attempt for a few days. No, I was not trying one of the drilling suggestions, rather removing a knotted mat of hair from a wiggly golden deceiver. kris
Speaking of dog grooming... She's the greatest most talented and kind dog groomer who takes on the most difficult pets free of charge. It's so enjoyable watching her methods: Girl With The Dogs - YouTube and Girl With The Dogs 2 - YouTube
Make your own v block from wood or other way to hold the drill in place. I wonder if a piece of duct tape would be sufficient to create a starting position for the drill. A small drill maybe.
Since I don't have all the details of the stock tubing being used ( mostly if you have extra stock to work with or just one piece that is already the correct length) I can't be confident this guys home made tube tool might give you an idea of two of how to tackle your project. Here it is anyway, hoping you have an extra piece of tubing to practice on or some extra length of tubing you can discard after getting the hole where you need it to be. And most importantly without any more cut fingers. Key is a minute or two after video starts when he says " If you don't have a slip roll you can do what I've done for years".
Finger needs a few more days to heal. Then I shall see what suggestions will be put to the test. kris
No one has mentioned this...if you don't care about how pretty the area near the hole looks. Use a flat file (or even the edge of the file) to make a small flat spot before drilling. Also can do this before using a center punch or nail to make a small dent for your pilot hole Mike
Opps. Guess my attacment in my post above did not work. And, I guess I can no longer make changes to the post. And I actually need to get back to work and since Tideland shutdown the sideshow in another thread --- and I applaud that -- I need to get back to work. And did I use "I" enough in this post.