RabbitCAM X Support

Creating the Operation and Selecting Hole Centers

1. Prepare the Part, stock, Workpiece Coordinate System, and any Work Holding.
2. Open Machining > New Operation and select Drilling under Hole Machining.
3. Review the operation name and select a valid Drill tool, then click Create.
4. Select the operation and open Job Assignment.
5. Use Pick > Circle or Boundary to assign the required positions and complete the selection.

Circle uses the center of a full horizontal circle. A partial arc is not a complete drilling-circle reference. Boundary uses the area centroid of a closed, continuous boundary projected onto XY. For an irregular boundary, inspect the calculated center before generating the operation.

The selected geometry defines the XY positions. The drill defines the cutting diameter, and the operation's level fields define the depth. Selecting a circle does not automatically set the drill diameter or assign a different depth to that hole.

At least one position is required. References with the same XY center are combined into one drilling position. Use separate operations for holes requiring different tools or Start/End Levels.

Choosing a Drilling Strategy

• Simple Drilling feeds continuously from the approach height to the final drill-tip depth, then retracts.
• Chip Removing drills in pecks and fully retracts to the approach height between pecks. It then returns rapidly to a point above the previous depth before feeding again.
• Chip Breaking drills in pecks with a short retract between them, then feeds toward the next depth.

The Cycle fields change with the selected strategy. Simple Drilling has no peck settings. Chip Removing shows Peck Depth and Reentry Clearance. Chip Breaking shows Peck Depth and Chip Break Retract.

The screenshot uses Chip Breaking.

Depth Reference: Drill Tip or Full Diameter

Depth Reference defines how End Level is interpreted:

• Drill Tip — the tip stops at End Level. With a pointed drill, the full-diameter portion of the hole ends above that height.
• Full Diameter — the full cutting diameter reaches End Level. RabbitCAM X extends the drill-tip target below End Level using the drill's diameter and point angle.

Review the tool's point geometry when using Full Diameter, and check the extra tip travel below the requested level against the part thickness and fixture position.

The example uses Drill Tip, so the final tip target is the displayed End Level of -41.632 mm. Switching to Full Diameter would make the tip travel farther downward.

Start Level, End Level, and Safe Level

The levels are Z coordinates relative to the project's work zero:

• Start Level — the nominal top of the hole. Set this to the material surface where drilling begins.
• End Level — the requested final depth, interpreted using Depth Reference. It must be below Start Level.
• Safe Level — the height used for XY travel between drilling positions.

RabbitCAM X uses a fixed approach height of Start Level + 0.1 mm. Rapid descent stops there before the drilling feed begins. Safe Level must be at or above that approach height and provide clearance for the setup.

The screenshot uses Start Level = -26.632 mm, End Level = -41.632 mm, and Safe Level = 5 mm. With Drill Tip selected, the nominal drilling depth is 15 mm, and the approach height is -26.532 mm.

Use the pick buttons beside Start Level and End Level to obtain the selected surface's highest and lowest Z respectively, converted to work coordinates. These values apply to every hole assigned to the operation.

For origin setup, see Setting the Workpiece Coordinate System.

Peck Depth, Chip Break Retract, and Reentry Clearance

Peck Depth is the maximum new depth cut during each peck. A smaller final increment is used when necessary to reach the calculated drill-tip target.

In the screenshot, the 15 mm nominal depth and 2 mm Peck Depth give seven 2 mm increments and a final 1 mm increment.

For Chip Breaking, Chip Break Retract sets the short upward rapid move after each intermediate peck. The example uses 0.5 mm. The next drilling feed starts from that retracted position and continues to the next peck depth. Chip Break Retract must be positive and smaller than Peck Depth.

For Chip Removing, the tool retracts to the approach height after each intermediate peck. Reentry Clearance sets how far above the previous peck depth the rapid return stops before feeding resumes. The return point is limited to the approach height.

After the final depth is reached, the tool retracts to Safe Level before moving to another drilling position.

RPM and Drilling Feed Rate

• RPM sets spindle speed in revolutions per minute.
• Drilling Feed Rate sets the axial cutting feed in mm/min.

The pictured operation uses 4244 RPM and 127 mm/min Drilling Feed Rate. The drilling feed applies to the downward cutting moves in all three strategies; the retract and rapid approach moves use rapid motion.

Choose the values for the actual drill, material, hole depth, and machine. Check them again after changing the tool or drilling strategy.

Hole Order and Clearance Moves

RabbitCAM X orders the unique drilling positions by repeatedly choosing the nearest remaining XY position from the current tool location.

For each hole, the tool travels at Safe Level to the selected center, descends rapidly to the approach height, executes the drilling cycle, and retracts to Safe Level.

Choose a Safe Level that clears raised part features and fixtures along the XY travel. Modeled Work Holding is checked against the vertical drilling paths. If the entered Safe Level is too low for the modeled Work Holding, generation reports the required minimum; update the value and recalculate.

Inspect the final drill-tip depth and all transitions in Simulation, especially when holes lie near fixtures or when Full Diameter adds tip travel below End Level.

Generating and Checking the Drilling Toolpath

1. Confirm the assigned centers, drill diameter and point angle, selected strategy, Depth Reference, and levels.
2. Review the Cycle fields and ensure that Chip Break Retract is smaller than Peck Depth when using Chip Breaking.
3. Click Run & Link and select the drilling operation to inspect the result.
4. Open Simulation and check the hole positions, approach height, peck sequence, final tip depth, and travel between holes.
5. Recalculate after changes to assignments, tools, levels, stock, preceding operations, or fixture placement.
6. Save with Ctrl+S and use Post Process when the setup is ready.

If a circle is rejected, verify that it is a complete horizontal circle, or use a suitable closed Boundary and inspect its resolved center. If a boundary is rejected, check that it is closed, continuous, and has a valid projected XY area.

If generation reports that a center lies outside the Remaining Stock, review the stock setup, the selected center, and the material left by preceding operations. If Work Holding blocks a drilling path, review the fixture placement and intended depth before recalculating.