Boring
At a glance
- Open a hole larger than your tool—the end mill spirals down and cleans it by helical interpolation
- Pick the same hole rims and cylindrical faces you'd drill; do a pattern in one operation
- Ease in on a helix by angle or by pitch, then finish with a clean full circle at the bottom
- Rough with radial and floor stock, then a finish pass at exact size; climb or conventional
Bore mills round holes with a helix — the way to put an accurate 1" hole in a part with a 1/4" end mill. Add a Bore operation and click the same circular edges or cylindrical faces you'd drill, but instead of plunging, the tool spirals down and cleans a hole larger than itself. One end mill opens a whole range of hole sizes, no dedicated boring bar required. Pick as many holes as you like in one operation.
Ease into the cut
The cutter ramps in on a gentle helix — set the descent by angle or by pitch (drop-per-revolution), whichever your material likes — then spirals to depth and finishes with a clean full circle at the bottom so the wall comes out round and true.
Rough, then finish
Take multiple passes, leave a skin of radial and floor stock, and add a final finish pass at the exact size and depth for a smooth wall. Climb or conventional, your call — and negative stock is deliberate when a press-fit needs the hole a hair over the drawing.
Depth from the part
Bore depth follows the geometry you picked, just like Drill and Contour, and it shares the same backplot, auto-generate, Post button, and machine dialects. You can also bore straight from sketch circles — see Picking geometry.