I have a piece of mild steel 2"x8" 5/8" thick I had to drill and tap 5-40 thread on one end lengthwise. I clamped one end in my cheap drill press vise() so it stands vertically and tried to center drill it. (I know it's bad to clamp long peace by one end) Vise wasn't bolted to the table. It vibrated really bad but I managed to make a hole but broke a tip of the center drill :( Then I rotated my worktable vertically with bolted vise so my work piece is clamped horizontally so it won't vibrate. I found that it's impossible to accurately adjust vise position so drill bit gets into the same hole. I removed vise and after positioning my workpiece manually clamped it with wise-grip clamp.
I hated the whole process it was a pain and holes where inaccurate. I am lucky I didn't break the drill bit.
What is a "right" way to do this? I am planning to get a xy table but for now all I have is a cheap drill press vise from HD.
Thanks, Alex