NC Tools

To see a list of defined NC tool tables, click on the plus box next to the NC Tools heading. The NC Tools area expands to show all the defined tool tables. Clicking on the plus box next to a Tool Table heading reveals all the tools the table contains, with their corresponding tool number and size. Each tool's type is also indicated by a unique symbol.

Most of the basic NC tool information may be modified using the Navigator. If you do not see a procedure here for accomplishing your desired task (such as deleting a tool or changing its color in the workspace), right-click on the NC Tools heading, and select the Spreadsheet command from the shortcut menu. This opens the NC Tool Setup dialog box, where you can access all tool table data.

To add a new tool table

1. Right-click on the NC Tools heading. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Add New Table command. The New Table Name dialog box appears.

3. Specify a name for the new NC tool table, and click OK. The new table is added, and is automatically assigned a type of Both (to accept both Drill and Mill tools).

To change a tool table's name

1. Right-click on the name of the desired tool table. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Rename Table command. A box appears around the table name.

3. Type the new name for the table, and press the Enter key.

To change a tool table's type

1. Right-click on the desired tool table. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select Change Table Type, and the desired table type (the current type has a check mark next to it).

To add a tool

1. Right-click on the name of the tool table where you wish to add the tool. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Add New Tool command, and the New Tool dialog box appears.

3. By default, the lowest available tool number appears in the text box. Change this to another unused tool number, if desired.

4. Click OK. The tool is assigned default values for size, type, plating, and legend, which you can change in the Navigator.

To make a tool active

1. Right-click on the desired tool in the list. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Active command (when a tool is active, a checkmark appears next to the Active command). The tool is now active.

To change a tool’s size

1. Click on the plus box next to the desired tool.

2. In the tool detail list, the first item is the tool size. Right-click on the size, and a shortcut menu appears.

3. Select the Edit command. A box appears around the size.

4. Type in the new size, and press the Enter key.

To change a tool's type

1. Click on the plus box next to the desired tool.

2. In the tool detail list, the second item is the tool type. Right-click on the type, and a shortcut menu appears.

3. Select the desired tool type from the menu.

To change a tool’s plating status

1. Click on the plus box next to the desired tool.

2. In the tool detail list, the third item is the plating status. Right-click on the type, and a shortcut menu appears.

3. A checkmark appears next to the current type. Select either Plated, NonPlated, or Both, as desired.

To change a tool's legend

1. Click on the plus box next to the desired tool.

2. In the tool detail list, the last item is the legend. The legend is one or two alphanumeric characters that are used to designate the tool in a drill hole chart. Right-click on the legend, and a shortcut menu appears.

3. Select the Edit command. A box appears around the legend.

4. Type one or two alpha-numeric characters, and press the Enter key.

To view unused tools

1. To view all unused tools in all tool tables, right-click on the NC Tools heading. A shortcut menu appears.

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To view all unused tools in a specific tool table, right-click on the desired tool table name. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Show Unused command, and all unused tools immediately appear in the list.

To hide unused tools, repeat the above steps. A checkmark now appears next to the Show Unused command. Select the command to remove the checkmark and hide the unused tools.