I used a center punch and I'm glad I now have a tool to drill the center hole. It's missing every now and then and I think it just needs to be reset. There is an inlaid spring and a twist to adjust. This was a plus when I used the center drill. This was my first time using a center drill and it was easy for me to drill the hole. At first the socket would not lift and I thought I was misusing it, but with a little effort the socket popped up as the bit entered the wood. Holds the bit absolutely in the middle. I used this to pre-drill the holes for the rail which I laid out on my workbench by placing a case drill bit over the rail hole and drilling through. Nice hole in the middle. Pictured is before I drilled the holes. It was an afterthought to leave a review but I wanted to at least show a picture.