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Centre Drills (aka Slocombe Drills) were designed to provide a location for a Tailstock Centre (hence their 60deg point angle) but are commonly used to make a small starting indentation to guide further drilling in a Lathe.

Also known as Slocombe Drills, Centre Drills were originally designed to create the countersink required to locate a tailstock centre when turning between centres. They have a point angle of 60° to match the angle of a Tailstock Centre

A Centre Drill can also be used to provide a start location for a drill when drilling down the centre of a bar held in a Lathe chuck. Centre Drills are short and rigid enough to mark the bar centre without wandering off if they are carefully offered up to a rotating work-piece. Although their point angle does not match that a Twist Drill only a small indentation is required, so for most work in Design and Technology, this is not an issue.

Note: Engineers may prefer a Spot Drill which is a short stubby drill designed specifically for this purpose. Alternatively, a small indentation can be cut in the bar centre with a sharp lathe tool.