I'm terrible with feeds and speeds... In the past, where there was a need or major advantage I have used the book to calculate feed and speed values, but 99% of the time I just wing it. I go more by the chips that are produced than anything... I use mostly HSS now since I'm retired and have an early 1930's South Bend lathe. I also have a Brown and Sharpe 2B horizontal mill that I mounted a Bridgeport M head on which is from the same era. Carbide tooling is expensive and I enjoy grinding my own tools and they run best on my machines since they were made mainly to use HSS. If the chips are coming off with a color I don't like (blue or heavy straw) I slow things down a little.
On a lathe, mill, drill press, whatever, I run center drills fast because they break so easily. So, if the tip of a center drill is 1/8", I would run it faster than I would run a 1/8" drill since I'm not going in very deep and they are usually made out of pretty high quality HSS. With a lot of oil and pecking, there is very little heat build up and the likelihood of dulling or breaking is low.
With experience you will find what works best for you and your equipment. That is what makes this hobby (or profession) fun! Everyone is different. But years ago when I was first learning, all the old timers told me to run the snot out out center drills if I didn't want to break them.
Ted