I've come up with a few ways to get nice, clean layouts without a drill press. It's also helpful if you DO have a drill press. I have never seen an enclosure without even slightly sloped sides, so by measuring and marking your layout on the face of the enclosure, you don't have to worry about that.
If you buy your enclosures raw, don't unwrap them yet! Mark up your layout on the cellophane wrapper. If they're painted, you can put masking tape on top once the paint is totally dry and cured (I wait at least few days).
I put the knobs and switches on top of the enclosure first to get an idea where I want everything, then mark a couple dots to center them. Once I have my layout done, I measure in from the top and bottom to get nice long straight lines. Measure twice, drill once... unless you've been drinking. In that case, you want to just eyeball it. :wink: For precision holes, I've found that these little stainless steel rulers that go down to 1/64" are indispensable!
I use a Unibit with 3/16 up to 1/2 inch holes. After marking, I use a center punch to make an indentation in the box for the drill bit to find. I drill all the holes to the smallest diameter first to check my layout. If something is a little off, I can correct it when I open the holes up to their respective sizes. As an added bonus, the masking tape seems to hold the bit and it keeps the shavings from marring the finish on a painted box.
I love the smell of solder in the morning.
Successful dealings with: blooghost, starcastic, bronzetalon, theavondon, absent, jero, sevenSHARPnine, magiclawnchair, oldangelmidnight, and others that I can't remember lol