MUCH ADO ABOUT VERY LITTLE.
I owned a machine shop, many years ago, and all the machinists
used a technique which was faster and easier than layout.
use 2 drill bits. One the size of the rod and the other the size of
the rod to be holed.

Drill thru a piece of half inch thick bar stock, say an inch wide,
using the small bit. Then using this hole as a pilot, drill halfway
thru with the large bit.. Then vise up the rod, set the bar stock
down on it and drill thru the pilot hole. Instant drill bushing.

FWIW
Lou Hinshaw Good inventor, lousy salesman. AADD victim.
Tulsa Oklahoma

On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 10:54:02 +0000, Scott
wrote:

Haven't made the tool yet, but I think I've narrowed it down to 2
possibilities. Either put the rod inside a piece of sqaure tubing and
scribe two lines across from opposite corners in which case the lines
will cross at the center of the square tube and thus the center of the
rod as well...or the method mentioned where the drill bit gets attached
to the drill press table and the rod gets chucked in the drill. The
only thing is that I think this method would make it as though you were
trying to with the drill motor reversed which might not make the
drilling action happen too fast ... have to try it and see...

Scott