[EricH]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

You cannot hand-hold a drill to make such a hole. This is dangerous. A drill press is the only safe way to make that hole with a drill bit. Your jagged hole is from the human inability to keep the drill perfectly centered on the pilot hole.

I'm going to disagree on that, Don. I'm willing to bet that with the right extra equipment, I could nail a 1.125" diameter hole with a hand drill, or two. I've done something similar before, though with a smaller hole. (I've hand-drilled one using a step drill, too. That was "fun".)

I'd be using some core drills, an egg cup or two, a drill block and clamps, and a bunch of bushings, ending with a reamer. For the larger holes, I'd use a much slower drill. It's definitely possible, but it'll take time. (I tried to hunt stuff like that up on McMaster yesterday, but no dice. Might have to try another source.)