Drill banks (gang drills) are a collection of drills, attached to the moving head of a router. They are primarily used by cabinetmakers to drill a large number of holes simultaneously. Use the drill bank toolpath to drill at the centre of each vector in a selection of vector artwork, typically circular.
You can configure any type of drill-bank pattern such as L, + or T shapes containing any number of drills to match the drill bank on your machine. ArtCAM considers the selected geometry and applies a drill bank toolpath for all X and Y axis holes containing a 32 mm (1.26") pitch (standard pitch value for most machines).
Before you create a drill-bank toolpath, select the vector artwork that represents the layout of the holes you want to drill. For example, in the following diagram, a 5 mm (0.197") circle, the equivalent to the drill diameter, is drawn. The circle is then block copied into 5 columns and rows with an X and Y offset of 32 mm (1.26"). This offset is equivalent to the standard European drill-bank pitch.
Click the
Create Drill Bank Toolpath
button on the
Toolpaths panel to display the
Drill Banks panel.
After you have calculated the toolpath, you can simulate it.