Many bolts and screws on a kart need to be safety-wired. You can pick up the screws and bolts at any hardware store, but to get some with holes for safety-wire is a much more difficult task. Special tools are offered, which allow for relative ease of drilling safety-wire holes into bolts and screws. But they have several disadvantages:

1. They cost money.
2. They are not readily available in ordinary hardware stores.
3. A drill bit can brake, getting stuck in the tool, rendering it unusable.

I got a piece of hard wood. It does not have to be big nor particularly fancy. It should be about 2" thick, at least 3" long and 2" wide. The block of wood I used was a little larger, and I got it simply by sawing off a piece from a bottom support beam of an unused pallette of a local store. Make sure, though, that the piece is not thicker than 2" (or the length of your drill bit).

Now drill a hole which is just slightly thinner than the screw or bolt into the side of the wood-block. Drill it in at least 2", better 3" or more (assuming the screw or bolt is at least that long). If you want, you can drill all the way through to the other side, but you don't have to. Make sure you drill the hole nice and orthogonal to the side of the block. This hole will later firmly hold the screw or bolt you need to drill.

Now put the drill bit you will use for drilling the safety-wire hole into your power drill. From the top of the block, drill all the way through to the bottom. This hole now has to be orthogonal to the previously drilled hole for the bolt or screw, and it needs to intersect the first hole towards the end, right in the middle. This will be the guide hole for the drill bit. Finding the right point at which to drill might be a little tricky and may require a ruler and some measurements on the top of the wood-block. Voila, you now have a safety-wire drill tool!

The screw or bolt you need to drill needs to be inserted into the larger hole you drilled first. Since the hole was slightly thinner than the screw or bolt, you will need to force the issue a little. A screw needs to be screwed in, while a bolt can be hammered in. While doing so, look through the thinner guide hole. As the screw penetrates deeper into the block of wood, it will eventually pass the guide hole. You know when that happens, because your view through the guide hole will be blocked. Give the screw a few more turns, or hammer the bolt in some more, and you should now have the end of the screw or bolt a few 16th of an inch past the guide hole. That should be safe for most safety-wire applications.

Before you start drilling, you should very scurely fix the block of wood, now containing the screw or bolt, into a vice. Now insert the drill-bit for the safety-wire hole into the guide hole. With the power drill set on low-speed, start to drill your safety-wire hole. The guide hole should give you enough support so that your drill bit will not wander too much. Use the usual techniques for drilling safety-wire holes:

1. Apply ample pressure.
2. Use a slow drill speed.
3. Use plenty of coolant. Some recommend WD40, others a special kind of cutting oil or a silicone powder spray lubricant.
4. If the bolt or screw is made from stainless steel, don't back off the drill bit, or if you have to do so, do it quickly. If the drill just spins at the material without cutting, the material will harden.

This wooden drill guide will be good for a couple of holes. I drilled 5 screws that way, using the same guide hole. The last two were a little off-center, since the guide hole was loosing its shape, but nevertheless very usable. So what if you need to drill more screws? Just drill a new guide hole half an inch or so away from the first guide hole, and continue. It's really that simple.

I used this method in my living room, using an old phone-book as a supporting base, kneeling on the book, and holding the wood block fixed with my knees (not recommended!). Very low tech, but very effective.

For comments or suggestions,
please contact J. Brendel