SteveB wrote:
Today, I was drilling a 1/4" pilot hole in a 1/2" plate. Going to drill a
1/2" final hole.

Besides the obvious clamping issue, you'll want
to keep your pilot hole diameter not much bigger
than the size of the non-cutting tip of your
final hole.

The plate was about 6 x 9". I did not clamp it to the
base. The drill caught the plate and began spinning it. I just jumped
back. The more it spun, the more it became out of balance, and it finally
snapped before I could reach in and hit the switch. It went flying, but
didn't do any damage. Broken drill bit was all.

Accidents happen when we are doing the most mundane common tasks, and do not
observe the MOST COMMON safety precautions.

DOH!

Steve