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Center and spotting drill bits

Center drill bits, numbers 1 to 6
Center drill bits, occasionally known as Slocombe drill bits, are used in metalworking to provide a starting hole for a larger-sized drill bit or to make a conical indentation in the end of a workpiece in which to mount a lathe center. In either use, the name seems appropriate, as the bit is either establishing the center of a hole or making a conical hole for a lathe center. However, the true purpose of a center drill bit is the latter task, while the former task is best done with a spotting drill bit (as explained in detail below). Nevertheless, because of the frequent lumping together of both the terminology and the tool use, suppliers may call center drill bits combined-drill-and-countersinks in order to make it unambiguously clear what product is being ordered. They are numbered from 00 to 10 (smallest to largest).

Use in making holes for lathe centers
Center drill bits are meant to create a conical hole for "between centers" manufacturing processes (typically lathe or cylindrical-grinder work). That is, they provide a location for ...
... a (live, dead, or driven) center to locate the part about an axis. A workpiece machined between centers can be safely removed from one process (perhaps turning in a lathe) and set up in a later process (perhaps a grinding operation) with a negligible loss in the co-axiality of features (usually TIR < 0.002 in (0.05 mm); and TIR < 0.0001 in (0.003 mm) is held in cylindrical grinding operations, as long as conditions are correct).

Use in spotting hole centers
Traditional twist drill bits may tend to wander when started on an unprepared surface. Once a bit wanders off course it is difficult to bring it back on center. A center drill bit frequently provides a reasonable starting point as it is short and therefore has a reduced tendency to wander when drilling is started.

While the above is a common use of center drill bits, it is a technically incorrect practice and should not be considered for production use. The correct tool to start a traditionally drilled hole (a hole drilled by a high-speed steel (HSS) twist drill bit) is a spotting drill bit (or a spot drill bit, as they are referenced in the U.S.). The included angle of the spotting drill bit should be the same as, or greater than, the conventional drill bit so that the drill bit will then start without undue stress on the bit's corners, which would cause premature failure of the bit and a loss of hole quality.

Most modern solid-carbide bits should not be used in conjunction with a spot drill bit or a center drill bit, as solid-carbide bits are specifically designed to start their own hole. Usually, spot drilling will cause premature failure of the solid-carbide bit and a certain loss of hole quality. If it is deemed necessary to chamfer a hole with a spot or center drill bit when a solid-carbide drill bit is used, it is best practice to do so after the hole is drilled.[citation needed]

When drilling with a hand-held drill the flexibility of the bit is not the primary source of inaccuracy—it is the users hands. Therefore, for such operations, a center punch is often used to spot the hole center prior to drilling a pilot hole.