To drill or not to drill
 

I have a Soma Double Cross DC with the IRD strait blade fork and I AM going to mount a front rack to it. I am running discs and it doesn't have mid blade mounts. I am thinking rather than using those ugly fork clamps why not drill a hole through the blade and then just bolt the rack on. Does anyone know why this wouldn't work or have any better ideas.

Yeah... ahhh... No, don't drill the fork, just use the clamps. No sense in crushing, collapsing your fork early now is there?

+1, don't drill the fork unless you're prepared to braze a gusset and tube across the blade. Fork blades are thin walled, so if you drilled into one as you propose the stress of the rack would be too much. When you see rack fittings on a fork, they're reinforced to carry the load.

I wonder if I would have realized the possibility of crushing the tube right before or right after it happened. either way I am sure I would have holes in my fork

Could he use Riv-nuts on the outside of each blade?

I'm thinking there aren't very many people who understand just how thin the wall thicknesses of quality butted bicycle tubes are. Take a close look at a millimeter scale. Bike tubes are less than 1mm.

these , from Tubus http://tubus.com/en/spares-and-accessories

seem quite nice.

Yes, if he were only holding a water bottle, and the brace were broad enough to provide some support.

Also consider that the G forces on the fork are the highest anywhere on the bike, more than double those on the seat tube. P-clamps are the right answer short of brazing.

If it's vanity that you're worried about, try to imagine yourself without front teeth.

For stays or fork tubes I would not risk it unless I knew that the frame or fork was a thicker and heavier "cheapie". It's a bit different on the main triangle tubes where you're affecting a lot less of the total percentage of the circumference.

The only other option would be to have the proper mounts brazed onto the legs. The brazed joint and metal of the braze on fitting itself would reinforce the area around the hole needed and make doing it safer.

The other thought is to just get a proper touring fork with the right mounts. If you were to sell off your present fork or use it on another bike then the final "cost" wouldn't be so bad and likely it would be the same or less cost than getting the brazeon fittings added and then repainting the fork.

+1. I'm certainly in the "don't drill it" camp. As I see it you have two viable options:

1. Use P-clamps. They don't look all that bad and should be hidden by your panniers anyway.
2. Buy a proper fork with the correct fittings built in and intended for use with a rack.

All the other options are either too weak (Riv-Nuts) or too expensive (braze-on fittings and a repaint).