Drilling

A drilling is a round hole in a face of the part, square to the face or at an angle.

Diameter 16 mm

Diameter 32 mm

Diameter 56 mm

Drilling. Drawn by the editor's own geometry code; right: the carved part in 3D.

When to use it

Use a drilling for bolt holes, dowel holes and pipe runs. Leave Through on for a hole that goes all the way through the part. Give it an Inclination for a peg, a dowel or a screw that goes in at an angle.

Fields

Field	Unit	Range or options	Default	What it changes
Position X	mm	from 0	1500	Centre of the hole along the part.
Position Y	mm	from 0	60	Centre of the hole across the face.
Diameter	mm	from 1	10	Hole diameter.
Face		Top, Bottom, Front, Back	Front	The side of the part the processing is on.
Through			on	On: the hole runs through the part. Off: it stops at the depth.
Depth	mm	from 0	20	How deep the hole goes when it is not through. Shown only for some settings of the other fields.
Countersink Ø	mm	from 1	No countersink	Countersink at the mouth of the hole, so a bolt head or washer sits flush. On an angled bore it runs along the bore, its depth measured along the axis. Hundegger only: BTLx has no parameter for it.
Countersink depth	mm	from 1	No depth	Depth of the countersink. Unset means no countersink depth. Shown only for some settings of the other fields.
Inclination	°	1 to 90	Square (90°)	The angle of the hole to its face. Unset means square (90°).
Angle	°	0 to 360	Along the part (0°)	Which way an angled hole leans: counter-clockwise seen from outside, from the length of the part. 0 leans toward the end. Shown only for some settings of the other fields.
Splinter-free		Machine default, Off, Tool path	Machine default	Machining that keeps the edges from splintering. Machine default writes what each file normally has for that operation. BVX and BVN carry an explicit choice where the operation has the setting, and the export says so where it does not. BTLx has no such setting.

Default: what Add fills in on a 3000 mm part of 120 x 120 mm.

Add a drilling

Select the part in the Parts list.
Under Extra processings, click Add.
Type drill in the search field and pick Drilling.
Set Face, Position X and Position Y.
Set Diameter. Switch Through off to set a Depth.
Check that the part shows a green check. If not, open the Issues tab.

At an angle

Set Inclination below 90° and the hole leans: 60° is a common peg angle. Angle then says which way it leans. The hole starts where Position X and Position Y put it on the face, and its Depth runs along the hole, not straight into the part.

When a hole at an angle is selected, a round handle sits where it reaches the far side of the part. Drag it to turn and tilt the hole about its start. The angle clicks to steps of 15°; in the drawing, hold Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) to turn it freely.

The part shows an error when an angled hole starts off its face, or comes out through an end or across an edge of the part. Move or tilt it until it leaves through one face or stops in the wood.

An angled hole can have a countersink too. It follows the hole, and its depth is measured along the hole. When it is so shallow that the lean lifts part of its floor out of the face, the part warns: the head would sit in a half moon rather than a full seat. Make it deeper or the hole steeper.

Into the end grain

A hole straight into the end of a part, along the grain, is an End-grain bore, with its own fields for where it sits in the section. The Face list of a drilling also offers Face at start and Face at end: picking one turns the drilling into an end-grain bore, keeping the position the two share and centring the other.

Machine export

A hole leaning across its face, and a countersink, are not work every machine can make: the card labels them Specialised machine and says which machines can (which machine can cut it).

Format	Status	Details
BTLx	Partly supported	Drilling, square or at an angle. A countersink gives a warning, and so does an angled hole: which way it leans is not yet confirmed by a file or a machine.
BVN (Hundegger)	Partly supported	Operation 0400, with the splinter-free setting. A countersunk hole goes out as operation 0402. Experimental, included with a warning unless you leave them out: a hole at an angle along the part, from 40 mm across, as operation 0402 with its angle. A hole leaning across the face is not written: that needs the bevel of a K2.
BVX2 (Hundegger)	Partly supported	Drilling, with countersink diameter and depth. Experimental, included with a warning unless you leave them out: a hole at an angle, as a turned Drilling.
BTL 10.6	Partly supported	040 square and angled bores, blind or through, on every long face. Shallow axes use a rigid reference plane. The bore is retained when its countersink is omitted.
Machine	Specialised machine	A hole leaning across its face, or both ways, needs a five-axis head, such as on a Hundegger ROBOT-Drive or K2, and a countersink needs a countersinking tool, such as a Hundegger K2 or ROBOT-Drive has. A plain hole, or one leaning along the part only, any machine drills. Which machine can cut it.

BTL status describes what the specification can represent. CAMBIUM imported our earlier BTL test files; confirmation applies to the tested forms and build. See BTL coverage for representation and receiver caveats.

Controls and handles

The card shows a guide, Place, Size / shape, Lean / turn, and All values. Blue choices and quick picks show the value in use. 0° means square; the format’s own angles remain under All values. Drag a blue handle to move or size the cut, or the bore’s tip to lean its axis. Each handle has a hint; Alt leaves the usual angle snaps free.