The hole diameter is chosen from the «Diameter» drop-down list. The list is not arbitrary: it contains only the diameters with which the company's production can really bore this hole. That is why you cannot order a hole with a non-existent drill — the error will not reach the machine.
The «Diameter» field
Before a choice is made the field shows «--- Choose ---». Each option is labelled with the diameter and the hole type — for example, «8 mm blind» or «15 mm through» — so the technologist sees at once what will result. The diameters are sorted ascending, and identical ones are shown once.
Where the list comes from
iFurn.pro picks the diameters from the company's catalog of drilling tools. Only the drills that fit the current hole on several conditions at once get into the list:
- it is a drill, not a cutter;
- it reaches the given depth — the tool's maximum depth is not less than the hole depth;
- it can make the needed hole type — blind or through (the type iFurn.pro determines by depth, see the article «Hole depth: blind or through»);
- it can drill the chosen side — the face, the back or a specific edge (see the article «Drilling side: face and edges»).
That is why the diameter list changes when you change the side and the depth: what is available for a blind hole in the face may differ from what is available for a through hole in the edge.
What the company sets
The company registers the drills themselves in the tools catalog. For each drill the following are specified: the diameter, the maximum depth, the side (or sides) it works on, and the type — blind and/or through. The fuller the drill catalog, the more diameter options the technologist sees in the project. Tool management is on the company's side; in the project itself the technologist only picks from the ready list.
Spindles and binding to the machine
Besides the diameter, the side and the depth, a drill has a spindle specified — the particular seat on the machine into which the tool is physically inserted (for example, in the upper or the lower head). The seats and the tool are set for each machine separately.
Because of this, the very same hole may lie differently on different machines. For example, if the needed drill is in the upper head but not in the lower one, the hole can be made both from the face and from the back side — and iFurn.pro, when generating the control program, figures out itself how to turn the part and which spindle to use for the particular machine.
The main rule: everything the chosen machine physically cannot do is automatically removed from its control program. The diameter list in the project shows what is available at the company in principle, while the final program is always formed for the capabilities of the particular machine and its tooling.
Glass
For glass parts the diameters are taken not from the drill catalog but from a separate production parameter of the company — a pre-set list of permitted diameters for glass. So the list here is shorter and does not depend on the usual drills.
Why the needed diameter is not in the list
If the expected diameter is not visible in the list, the cause is almost always one of the selection conditions:
- the hole depth is greater than the maximum depth of all suitable drills — reduce the depth or choose another diameter;
- there is no suitable drill for the chosen type (blind/through) — change the depth so that the type switches, or contact the company;
- there is no drill for the chosen side — choose another side or ask the company to add a tool;
- a drill of that diameter simply is not in the company's catalog — it needs to be registered in the tools.
Next
Once the diameter is chosen, the hole is fully described — it remains to press «Add». To place a whole row of identical holes at once, use «X/Y offset» and «Number of drillings» (see the article «Row of holes: offset and number of drillings»).