If you’re having trouble seeing pencil marks before you start drilling, using a scratch awl to make a small starter hole makes it much more visible.
Even after having cataract surgery, I find that my tired old eyes don’t see as well as they used to for close-up work. But I don’t let that keep me from woodworking — I just find tricks that help. For instance, here’s how I hit the pencil line crosshairs when marking the centerpoint for drilling: I use a scratch awl to create a starter hole large enough to insert the tip of my brad point bit. That way, I can find the centerpoint by feel and know that the bit will be centered precisely. I did this for 50 holes on a recent project with great success.
