6 Fabrication
6.7 Drilling

The drilling machine is computer-controlled. The operator selects the PCB drill file from Gerber files. It tells the machine which drills to use and the X-Y coordinates of the holes. High speed drilling ensures clean hole walls to provide a secure base for good plating on the hole walls.

Drilling is a slow process as each hole must be drilled individually. Drill bit change is fully automatic. The machine selects the drill bit to use from the drill bit rack, checks that it is the correct size, and then loads it into the drill bit head. Normally, stacks of working panels (up to 5) are drilled at same time.