What's the trick to drilling a hole straight without a drill press?

Place a CD or DVD flat on the workpiece with the hole centered over your drilling mark. Look at the reflection of the drill bit in the shiny surface — adjust the drill until the bit and its reflection form a perfectly straight line. Remove the disc and drill.

Clamp a commercially made portable drill guide onto your hand drill or set it on the workpiece to constrain the bit to a perpendicular path.

Build a simple L-shaped guide from two scrap wood blocks that physically constrains your drill bit to enter the workpiece at 90 degrees.

Attach a bubble level to your drill body or place a small mirror on the workpiece to provide real-time visual feedback on drill alignment.

Hire a machine shop, fabrication shop, or professional tradesperson when you need precision holes that are beyond the capability of hand tools.

Use a self-centering doweling jig to drill perfectly centered and perpendicular holes for dowel joints, shelf pins, and alignment tasks.

Set up two squares at 90 degrees to each other on the workpiece to provide visual alignment reference in both the left-right and front-back planes simultaneously.

Use a dedicated drill press for guaranteed perpendicular holes with repeatable accuracy, adjustable depth, and consistent results.

Drill several practice holes in scrap material of the same type as your project, check them for squareness, adjust your technique, and then move to the real workpiece.

Mount your hand drill into a dedicated drill press stand that converts it into a miniature drill press with guided vertical travel.

Place an old CD or DVD label-side-down on the workpiece and use the reflective surface to visually confirm your drill bit is perfectly perpendicular before and during drilling.

A drill press holds the bit in a fixed vertical column and plunges it straight down with a lever. Clamp your workpiece to the table, align the bit over your mark, and pull the handle to drill a perfectly perpendicular hole every time.

Mark your drilling point with a center punch, start the drill at the lowest speed setting, and apply firm, steady downward pressure without forcing. Let the bit establish the hole before gradually increasing speed. Keep both hands on the drill and your body aligned directly above it.