Just a note on this “spot piercing” or “pilot holes”…
I just went through this in making taller stanchion plates for my PRO table… Worked great!! However, there must have been just enough carbon in the mild steel to harden a bit @ the spot pierces… Sure, I could carry on drilling and take my time etc. etc… NOPE!! Threw them all in the forge and annealed the entire batch… Afterwords… Cut like butter again!!
If it’s a few holes, a torch would work just fine as well…