Applying a drilling pattern to gable

[MarcoKnjaschewitsch]

So been looking at the KD RTA Program to maybe use and Apply my 8mm Drilling doweling holes is there a way to do this easy for applying a pattern(been finding that manual input drilling sometimes gets dropped when changing sheet stock) I just want to apply a drilling pattern to the gables only.

note - i still want to use blind dados for backs and maybe other operations so im only applying these to certain parts of the program...

[Mark Hesketh]

I have been trying to apply specific patterns for dowelling using kd/rtas for years and have never been able to find a way without some compromises...

If you are trying to apply a specific pattern from just the front or back edges, it won't do it. It wants to apply the pattern in from the front AND in from the back (pattern will end up symmetrical across the piece). So setting a specific pattern that will be the same from the front for a range of depths won't work.

If you just want pairs of hole 32mm apart spaced parametrically across the part, then create a pattern with those 2 holes and apply it in your settings (I make the pattern with 1 hole 16mm in positive-y and 1 16mm in negative-y and then set my front inset to 36... gives 20mm to the front hole + 32 to the back)... you can set the max spacing before it applies a third set of holes, etc. That way you can have a dowel pattern that has a pair of holes a set distance from the front, a set distance from the back, and a third set centered, regardless of part size... drawback is that unless your dowel machine has the automatic sizing laser, drilling correctly on odd-size pieces becomes problematic, relying on the dowel machine operator to accurately measure the length of the part and do the correct math.

Hope that helps a bit

[Gerry A Brown]

This has come up a number of times and I think it would be a boon for people who use dowels or confirmats but there seems to be no interest from Thermwood of implementing the option.