Fitting recessed nut front brake - thoughts on drilling an 8mm hole?

I've gone with slotting the recessed nut inside the fork which seems to be holding up at the moment - partly because I haven't got a decent drill to hand so a quick fix will do for the time being.

As noted above, this is specifically questioned on Sheldon's page regarding this

That's Sheldon's suggestion -- I can't figure how this option would secure the brake adequately against the tendency of braking to rotate the shoes forward.-- John Allen

Drilling out a fork is genuinely very simple, I did mine with a handheld drill. Make sure you buy a good quality 8mm HSS drill bit and set your drill to turn relatively slowly. If it spins too fast it will heat up the fork, instead it should cut the metal out a bit like a rotating chisel. It's also good to add some sort of cutting fluid, I used fairy liquid but chain oil would do the trick. This will help to lubricate it and keep it cool, but you may want to stop every now and then to let it cool as well.

If you don't have brakes yet, buy 2 front calipers so you can use a regular length allen bolt on the (newly drilled) fork and a standard nyloc nut on the back. I've got a double-front pair of silver tektros if you need some. PM me for details.