Tech Tip: Custom Drill Cycles

For Mill, Lathe, Mill/Turn, and 5-Axis: Custom drill cycles, such as Variable Peck, can be called from the Drill tab of the Holes process and from the 5-Axis Drilling Options tab. As an example, a set of macros is supplied to illustrate custom drill cycles for Variable Peck. When the support files (macros and custom MDD) are installed, the functionality is visible to end users as additional pull-down options among the Entry-Exit Cycle choices, as shown below.

Custom drill cycle macros can be called from the Drill tab of the Holes process and from the 5-Axis Drilling Options tab. A sample set of macros is available to illustrate custom drill cycles for Variable Peck.

For Mill and Mill/Turn: The Holes process provides a new option in the Drill tab. When making multiple passes over dozens or hundreds of holes, you want to minimize unnecessary moves. The new checkbox, Reverse Order, lets you reverse the drilling sequence.

Download Files
These macros, along with the custom MDDs to support them, can be downloaded from the Macros wiki using your secure username and password (https://macros.GibbsCAM.com). For example, in the web page for the category Custom_Drill_Cycles, you can download the following items.

  • Example macros for: Variable-peck drilling by Distance or Percentage; Fagor style variable-peck drilling; Pecking/drilling of Tapered squares; and Peck chamfering.
  • MDDs (*.mdd files) supporting custom drill cycles for: 3-axis vertical mill, 5-axis vertical mill, and 2-axis horizontal lathe.
  • Sample parts (*.vnc files) illustrating the use of custom drill cycles.
  • A single *.zip file containing all the files mentioned above.

Installing a sample package for custom drill cycles is simple. In your global data folder (such as C:\ProgramData\Gibbs\ GibbsCAM\10.3.xx\):

  1. Under its Macros\ folder, create new subfolder CustomDrillCycles\and move the Gibbs.*.Generic\ folders into it.
  2. Change to its MDD\ folder and move the sample *.mdd files into it.
  3. Place the sample part files (*.vnc) wherever you like.

Viewing and Using the Samples
After your C:\ProgramData\...\Macros\CustomDrillCycles\Gibbs.PeckDistance.Generic\folder is populated and your C:\ProgramData\ ...\MDD\ folder contains the sample MDD referenced by the part, simply open a sample part and look at each of its processes. For example:

  • In the 3-axis Mill part, Mill3a.vnc, .the Holes process dialog’s Drill tab offers a pull-down of custom drill cycles under Entry/Exit Cycle when the bottommost option button is selected. To view or adjust parameter values, click User Cycle Data.
  • In the Lathe part, Lathe2a.vnc, .the Holes process dialog offers a pull-down of custom drill cycles under Entry/Exit Cycle when the bottommost option button is selected. To view or adjust parameter values, click the User Cycle Data the button.
  • In the 5-Axis part, Mill5a.vnc, the Drilling Options tab shows pull-down options when Custom Cycle is selected. To view or adjust parameter values, click the Define Custom Data button.

Once the custom drill cycles for Mill, Lathe, Mill/Turn, and 5-Axis: Custom drill cycles are installed, such as Variable Peck, they can be called from the Drill tab of the Holes process and from the 5-Axis Drilling Options tab. As an example, a set of macros is supplied to illustrate custom drill cycles for Variable Peck. When the support files (macros and custom MDD) are installed, the functionality is visible to end users as additional pull-down options among the Entry-Exit Cycle choices, as shown below.