PartMaker® Tech Note: #070600

How to “Chamfer with a Center Drill”

This Tech Note will show you how to use PartMaker to automatically calculate the depth
of cut when chamfering with a center drill. PartMaker has been developed to calculate
the depth of cut for a spot drill or chamfering tool when the user specifies the hole
diameter of the major tool in that holes’ cycle and the size of the desired chamfer in the
hole group parameters dialog. When chamfering with a center drill, however, some
additional manipulation for setting up the tool and holemaking cycle is required in order
to calculate chamfers of varying sizes. The technique for doing so is described below:

1. From the File menu, choose Open Job File. Double click on the job file named
DEMO.JOB to load it. The example described here is for a milling application.
The same procedure will also apply to Turning, Turn-Mill, and Swiss-Turn
applications. Call PartMaker Tech Support with any questions regarding
information in this tech note.

2. Follow the same procedure for the TOOLS.TDB and CYCLES.CDB files but
open them from the Open Tools File and Open Cycles File dialogs respectively.

3. From the ToolMinder menu select Tools. Select New and name it #4 Center for
Chamfering. Set the Type: as Spot Drill and change the included angle to 60.
Also, set the Diameter to the size of the center drill, in this case a #4 center drill
is .312.
 How to “Chamfer with a Center Drill”

The new Tool Data dialog is shown below:

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How to “Chamfer with a Center Drill”

Right now, the software thinks that you are using a spot drill when in actuality you
are using a spot drill with a pilot, also known as a center drill. An incremental value
is needed for the spot drill in order for the software to know the additional depth
needed to account for the pilot. In the illustrations below, we take a look at how the
formulas to account for this pilot were derived.

The diagram on the left shows a typical drawing of a center drill and its dimensions.
Below are the numerical interpretations of the variables based on the size of the
center drill:
Center Drill Specifications
# Major Diameter C d
0 1/8 .038 .031
1 1/8 .047 .047
2 .187 .078 .078
3 .250 .109 .109
4 .312 .125 .125
5 .437 .187 .187
6 .500 .218 .218
7 .625 .250 .250
8 .750 .312 .312

The length of the pilot (L) is the incremental move needed for the software to
correctly account for the pilot. The diagram on the right shows the meaning of the
variables in the formula shown below:

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 How to “Chamfer with a Center Drill”

You can use the numbers in the chart to figure out the numbers you will need to input
in the formula given. For example:

To find H using the information given in the chart, multiply ‘d’ by .3 to give you the
tip depth and then add that to given ‘C’.

d(.3)+C=H

By entering the numerical equivalents to the formula above you get:

.125(.3)+.125=.1625

H = .1625

This number is needed in the formula to find L, which is what is needed to chamfer
with a center drill. Again the formula for L is:

By entering the numerical equivalents to the formula above you get:

L = .1625 – .8660254 x .125

L = .0542

To eliminate repetitive calculations when using this tool in the future we now add L
and its’ value in the Notes: of the tool.

PartMaker Tech Note 4

How to “Chamfer with a Center Drill”

The completed dialog is below:

Once you are satisfied that your dialog appears as the one above, click Close.

4. Return to the ToolMinder menu and choose Cycles this time. Create a new cycle
named Ream 1/4. Make the Operation Type a Spot Drill and make the Hole
Diam field read .25 as this is the size of the hole that is going to be chamfered by
the spot drill. This is important because calculations of depth for the chamfer tool
are done automatically by the software when you enter a chamfer size in the Hole
Group Parameters dialog.

5. Make the Operation Type of the next operation in the cycle a Drill, as the next
tool in the cycle should be a drill. In the Canned Cycle field, label it Drill as
well. Enter the appropriate drill diameter for a ¼ inch reamer in the field named
Hole Diam, which is 15/64.

6. Make the Operation Type of the next field down read Ream, as the next tool in
the cycle should be the reamer. In the Canned Cycle field, label it Bore, Dwell.
Enter the appropriate diameter for a ¼ inch reamer in the field named Hole Diam,
which is .25.

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 How to “Chamfer with a Center Drill”

7. Click on Select Tools and PartMaker will select the tools in the database that
match the ones you just entered as requirements in the new cycle. Then change
the primary cycle tool to the reamer by clicking on the bullet located to the left of
the Operation Type of the reamer.

8. The result of the formula (L) is to be entered as an increment in the Depth field.
Enter a value of .0542 in the Depth field for the spot drill preceded by the @
symbol.

Note: To enter an incremental value in PartMaker use the @ symbol prior to

entering any numbers.

Your dialog should now appear as below:

Note: Although @0.0542 is not fully visible In the Depth field above, you can be
assured that your entire data input is there. PartMaker uses a feature that “wraps” text
that is too long to fit in the field in order to sustain accuracy.

To apply this new information to the tutorial:

1. Choose New Hole Group from the Part Features menu and you are confronted
with the Hole Group Parameters dialog.

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How to “Chamfer with a Center Drill”

2. Change the Major Cycle Operation Type: to Ream. Next, enter a desired size
in the Chamfer field. In this case we enter .03.

3. Click on the Cycles button and PartMaker will select the cycle that you just
created.

This is shown below:

4. Clicking Close will bring you back to the Front window where you will notice a
new group named Ream 1/4.

5. If it is not already a unique color from the other groups go ahead and change the
color now.

6. To apply this information to the CAD geometry already in this tutorial, choose the
Chain Circle Icon.

7. Then click on the 8-hole bolt pattern located on the center of the tutorial part and
your new CAM geometry is created.

PartMaker Tech Note 7