a US presence

The nearest one seems to be 14 miles away, which might as well be on the far side of the planet: we won’t do a 30 mile bike ride for groceries, even if they throw in a free toaster oven, and who uses a car for groceries? [grin]

Their website ads suggest they stay close to food items. They have a store in next suburb so I will try to take a look the next time I am in the neighborhood.

anything like that in the US?

Not in Poughkeepsie, that’s for sure… [grin]

a rather large set of drill bits at one of the el cheapo stores

Around here, that’d be Harbor Freight, the source of single-use tools… [sigh]

They’re actually not much, if at all, worse than the low end tools found elsewhere. For low-stress / low-duty-cycle use, the drill bits will be fine… if you’re drilling serious metal, then you need something much better.

I like step drills a lot, particularly for sheet metal, because they’re basically D-shaped drills that produce round holes. No good for thick material; the shower basket’s wall was just about exactly the maximum possible thickness.

Aye, but then I’d be freehanding each hole twice.

Fair enough, although the small hole should help with lining up properly. (Then again, we’re talking about plastic here…)

Plus, the step drill isn’t as grabby as a twist drill, so the basket doesn’t crawl up the drill bit.

Less grabby huh? I wonder if I drill nearly enough to warrant the acquisition of such drill bits then, plus I either hold or clamp down what I’m drilling for obvious reasons other than crawling up. I did see a rather large set of drill bits at one of the el cheapo stores (Aldi or Lidl) recently which may include such things. Perhaps it’s time to pay them a visit to see if that item hasn’t sold out yet. In retrospect I’m not quite sure why I didn’t pick it up. Probably doubts about the quality, even if some of the other tools I picked up there for cheap have turned out just fine. (A nice cheap set of wrenches, a wire cutter, and a set of clamps.)

followed by a larger one?

Aye, but then I’d be freehanding each hole twice. With the step drill, I just line it up and bear down until the hole’s big enough.

Plus, the step drill isn’t as grabby as a twist drill, so the basket doesn’t crawl up the drill bit.