Drillin' Out the Holes

Well, first I got out my drill and drill bits and figured I would start out by drilling some small holes and then bore them out to 1/2" holes.  Seemed to make more sense then just trying to bore a 1/2" hole straight from the get go.  Decided to do a practice run on my old bars before getting down to business with my new Biltwell's, seemed easy enough.  I will say though that not having a work bench or vice or any sort seems to be making things a bit more complicated in terms of securing the bars for drilling, but I rigged up a nice little set up using a blanket, some old shocks (in boxes) and my good ole feet.  Though drilling on round bars made it a wee bit exciting because one slip O' the drill and I got a hole in my foot.

Here is the practice holes...good enough for rock'n'roll

I then mocked up how I wanted to have the bars sit and yes those are my safety goggles for drilling.  I learned REAL quick that eye protection was very much a necessity when drilling metal.  Also here is what I did not show.  After I mocked them up I used tape on the bars to mark where I was going to need to drill so that when I internally wired the pods back on they would sit properly and in the right space.  Also then where the wires were going to have to exit out the bottom.  This was not a good time and was actually kinda stressful ergo there are no pics because while one is frustrated, taking pics is the last thing you wanna do.

Ok so here is after I taped, marked and drilled the first holes.  Looks good!  However, I noticed that the Biltwell bars are made from some REALLY strong steel and thus drilling holes was ALOT harder than on the other bars that I had....literary scholars would call this foreshadowing....

Wait just a minute, there are no pictures for this but it bears to be mentioned:  I HIT A BIT OF  SNAFU.  So as I am drilling I get to where I am boring out holes from size 5/16" to 3/8" and guess what!?!  I could not bore it out!!!!  It just would not work!!!  The drill seemed inadequate to drill any bigger of a hole.  The steel was just too strong and my drill and bit was not strong enough.  So off to Home Depot I go.  I upgrade my drill to a major hammer drill and buy some Cobalt drill bits to drill through heavy duty metal.  I then get back home and start drilling again with my new Milwaukee heavy duty drill and bits....3/8" hole, no problem but when I them try and bore out to 1/2"....I SNAP THE DRILL BIT!!!!!!  That is how hard this metal is, I snapped a cobalt heavy duty Milwaukee drill bit!  So back to Home Depot I go....a bit annoyed thus no pics.  I buy a couple new drill bits and return home determined to finish boring out these holes before it gets too late in the day and the neighbors begin to hate me.

Here I am drilling with my new drill and bits

Ah, success!!!!!

And to check the holes, here it was mocked up on the bike again

And it was here I called it a night!