Spotting drill makes life easier. If drilling l9nger bits or hybrid ( resin and timber or just resin) blanks, then drill the blank over length so any breakout at the ends is in “ waste bit “ or , as I do , drill on a piller drill with a plywood or other offcut under the blank for the drill bit to run out into. Then you avoid “blowout “ where the end craters as the drill bit exits .
As for pillar drill see what ex engineering drills are about , you can get pleasantly surprised.
You made a point earlier about rounding the blank before holding the end in the chuck, that works but as long as yo7 drill the hole fairly centrally then you work between centres , the blank will end up round and balanced to your hole. Just make sure the blank is a fair bit bigger than the finished result needs it to be.
Lastly some woods, eg Lignum Vitae self close after drilling due to their oily nature. You may need to drill them then “ream the hole with say a drill bit 0.1mm bigger so the damn tube actually goes in 
