A short plunge to create a starter spot that guides a following drill and breaks the top edge of the hole..
Typical tools
Spot drills
Controls shown for this operation
Adjustable rows are sliders you can constrain (drag the range handles, type a value, or lock it).
Read-out rows update automatically as you change the others — they show you the effect, but you don’t set them directly.
Material removal rate
Read-out
cm³/min / in³/min
The volume of material the cut removes every minute.
Why it matters: A productivity read-out, not something you set directly. Watch it rise as you make the other settings more aggressive — it’s the headline number for how fast a roughing job will run.
Surface speed
Adjustable
m/min / ft/min
The speed of the cutting edge as it sweeps past the material (the cutting speed, Vc).
Why it matters: Set by the material and tool coating — it’s the main driver of cutting heat and tool life. Together with the tool diameter it determines the spindle speed.
Spindle speed
Adjustable
rpm
How fast the spindle turns.
Why it matters: Derived from the surface speed and the tool’s diameter. Constrain it if your machine has a sweet spot or a maximum you need to respect.
Plunge feed per rev
Adjustable
mm/rev / in/rev
How far the drill advances into the hole for each full revolution.
Why it matters: The core feed setting for drilling. Too little and the drill rubs and overheats; too much and you overload the tip or pack the flutes with chips.
Plunge feed rate
Read-out
mm/min / in/min
The resulting straight-line speed of the tool plunging into the material.
Why it matters: A read-out of how fast the tool is travelling as it enters the cut, derived from the feed-per-revolution and the spindle speed.