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Problems with loading drill files

Problems with loading drill files


NC Drill files just don't contain the same format information as Gerber 274X & Gerber X2 files do and never have.

Drill files traditionally - a derivative of CNC code - unlike Gerber 274X and X2 data have very little embedded format information within them.

Although UCamco (the current custodians of Gerber code) have recently talked about an alternative format for NC Drill files it's not yet in place. (as of September 2019)

The most common problem we see when AutoLoading Gerber & drill files are that the drill files are either too small or too large - 10X too large or 10X too small.

This can be corrected by loading the drill file by itself and changing the "Decimal Digits" one number larger or smaller in the NC Drill Options menu. (See below)

Once you have successfully loaded the drill file, the load options will remain as the default AutoLoad drill load option.

Another drill load problem we see is when drill hits seem as if there in the wrong location.

This is generally because the Zero Suppression Leading or Trailing option is incorrect.

Try changing that option in the drill load menu to see if that works.

We've even seen drill files that are in metric format where the Gerber's are Imperial / English format and visa versa. You might want to check that too if all else fails!

If nothing seems to work play around with all the drill load options to see if you can get anything to work.

Of course, we'll always be here if you need additional help.

The Numerical Innovations Team


NC Drill Options

Unites can be: English or Metric

Integer Digites can: be 0 to 6

Decimal Digites can be: 0 to 6

Type can be: Absolute or Incremental

Zero Supression can be: Leading, Trailing, None or Decimal

M00 Command can be: Treat as End of Program, Ignore, Increment Tool

Scan Drill reports: Check - on or off



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