Drilling
At a glance
- Click a hole rim or a cylindrical hole face and it becomes a drill point at that hole's exact center
- Pick a whole pattern in one operation; the tool visits the holes in the shortest order automatically
- Single plunge, or a peck cycle that chip-breaks or fully retracts to clear the flutes
- Depth follows the part; drill with dedicated drills or any center-cutting end mill
Drill puts holes in the part by pointing at the holes themselves. Add a Drill operation and click a circular edge — a hole rim — or a cylindrical hole face, and each becomes a drill point at that hole's exact center. Pick as many as you like in one operation to run a whole pattern; the tool visits them in the shortest travel order automatically.
The cycle you need
Choose a straight single plunge, or a peck cycle that breaks chips — either backing off a small chip-break distance after each bite, or fully retracting to clear the flutes between pecks, the classic deep-hole cycle. Set the peck depth and retract the way your material wants.
Depth from the part
The hole floor follows the geometry you picked — or a face you click, or an exact value you type — and the start and clearance planes work just like Contour, so the drill starts and finishes at the right Z without measuring.
Any plunge-capable tool
The tool picker shows your dedicated drilling tools — drills, spot and center drills — and your end mills, since a center-cutting mill plunges just fine. Feeds, speeds, and coolant carry over from your last operation, so a new drill op starts ready to run. You can also drill straight from sketch circles or points — see Picking geometry. For holes bigger than any bit you own, use Boring instead.