I'm going to nitpick what Dan wrote:

Dan Caster wrote:

You have gotten lots of good advice. I will add a couple more
comments.
Anything will help for lubricant. One of the things a lubricant does
is keep things cool and obviously anything will help there. Oils also
lower the friction, but require cleaning before painting.

Very true.

Using a pilot hole will help a lot. The general rule is to use a
drill that is the same diameter as the web of the next drill. And the
next drill should be the size of the hole you want ( unless the drill
motor you are using does not have enough power ).

This isn't optimal on a small (17" or less) drill press because the
forces involved will cause the table to flex. This will cause your
hole to go out of square which isn't a big deal on thin stock, but
it also can wear out your bit prematurely. If you don't believe me,
put a dial indicator on your table and press down on it with normal
drilling force and see it deflect. This is the reason for step
drilling i.e. beyond web-sized-pilot drilling.

Sometimes I drill
the pilot hole almost all the way thru and then fill that hole with
oil before drilling the full sized hole if I am drilling thick
material.

Good idea. It means the big drill breaks through though, so it makes
clamping the part more important.

You may want to put a piece of scrap wood behind the metal so that the
drill does not grab as much as it goes thru the far side.

I would also recommend you let people know where you are located.
Someone here might be willing to let you use their drill press, have a
drill press to sell, or recommend a good place to buy drills. Here in
the Seattle area Boeing Surplus sells good drill bits at good prices.

Second the "where are you". My first drill press was free. My second one
cost me $35 and it did me well for several years.

One final comment: for any hole larger than 1/8", it is really easy to
punch 1/8" steel. You'll want to centerpunch your hole and catch the
centerpunch with the tit in the middle of the punch (this locates the
hole quickly and reasonably accurately). Small arbor presses can be
easily converted to light punches for low $$ and low shelf space. You'll
find that it's a whole lot faster and easier to punch holes a tad
oversize with a little tolerance for location, than it is to locate
and drill holes precisely.

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington