Use the drill press.
The basic idea - Get a cheap, simple C-clamp and clamp the piece
down to the surface so it can’t spin. Use whatever piece of wood,
leather or other suitable material as a pad to protect the workpiece
from being damaged by the clamp.
There are a few simple refinements to make things easier and more
perfect…
If the support platform on the drill press, the “bed”, is adjustable
side to side, adjust it off to one side or other so the workpiece
can be held close to the edge of the bed so you don’t need a large C
clamp to reach over to the workpiece as you would if you placed it
in the centre of the platform.
OR - You can hold the workpiece from spinning and / or being lifted
by the drill bit by placing it on a small piece of wood, say 3/4"
thick, 3" wide, 12" long - and surrounding the workpiece with a few
small nails or screws around its edge so it can’t spin. The heads of
at least some nails or screws should overhang the edge of the piece
to hold it down as well and keep it from being lifted. Don’t drive
them in so deep that they dent the edge of the work, just drive them
down to barely touching the surface. The piece of wood can then be
moved around on the bed of the drill press so you can get the
location of each desired hole under the bit - then clamp the wood
down to the bed with a c-clamp or two. It is good to have something
like wood anyway under the piece so the drill bit has something to
go into when it goes through the workpiece instead of hitting what
is (I assume) the steel or iron bed of the press.
You should NOT need to drill a series of successively larger holes.
You do NOT need a pilot hole. Tiny bits are fragile and you will
break lots of them for no good reason. Mark the location of the
centre of the hole with a centre punch - a light tap will do so you
don’t make a big dent in the work. That tiny ding will keep the drill
point from wandering until it gets a bite into the surface. As soon
as it starts to bite and dig in, increase your pressure - a good
steady, not strenuously hard - pressure - and the drill cut right
through. Use a drill bit which is the desired final size of the hole.
For small holes as you are making, fairly high speed is good. You may
lubricate drill bit with light oil, or wax, or spittle - to help keep
the bit cool and to clear the chips out of the hole and the flutes of
the bit more easily.
You should not be holding small work in hand when working with sharp
moving cutting tools -
Best of luck. Let us know how it goes.
Marty