I rarely centre punch holes but prefer to use a centre finder and a magnifying glass to accurately locate them.
I recently received this magnifier from Landnics on Amazon and it is a big improvement on my old one. It has 10 x magnification and crystal clear glass.
It's focal length means it can be held close to the work.
It comes in a good quality box to store it in.
The centre finder has a pointed probe and is held in the mill or drill chuck and run at low speed. The probe has a ball joint on the end where it fits in the chuck. Using a steel rule or similar the point is pushed until it runs true. When it is running true it means the point is exactly in the centre of the chuck.
Using the magnifying glass as an aid, the work can now be accurately positioned on your marked out work, knowing that the hole to be drilled is exactly where you want it.
Centre finder
