Holes, grooves and pockets

Holes, grooves and pockets are processes: you place them on a part, and they cut material away from it. Processes stick to the part's surface and stay with it when the part changes shape. Chamfering and rounding board edges also lives under the same Process button; see Boards and edge banding.

#Placing a hole

1. From the Process button, choose Drilling.
2. A semi-transparent hole follows the pointer and turns perpendicular to whatever surface it's over.
3. Click to place the hole.

If you place a hole on the seam where two boards meet, Atrium asks "Which one did you mean?"

#Drawing grooves and pockets

1. From the Process button, choose Groove or Pocket.
2. The same tools you use to draw parts appear: line, arc, spline and all the shapes. Width and depth are in the options bar at the top of the screen.
3. Draw a groove along an open or closed path. A pocket is a closed shape. Right-click to close the shape.

If the shape is on a part, it becomes a process on that part. If it doesn't land on any part, it stays a free shape, and you can later turn it into a pocket or groove with its Part badge.

#The shape is kept

• A free shape that becomes a pocket or groove keeps its arcs and its filleted and chamfered corners.
• Fillets and chamfers on pocket and groove points work just as they do on boards.
• A groove on a closed shape is a complete loop.
• Pockets and grooves cut exactly along a spline curve.

You can also turn a shape into a pocket or groove with one click from its part picker; see Library.

#Seeing processes

• When nothing is selected: Only the cut itself shows on the part.
• Transparent volume: The transparent volume of a hole, groove or pocket shows only when the part it's on (or the process itself) is selected.
• Processes that come with a part: A process that came with a part or sub-assembly (hinge holes, for example) shows when you select that part or sub-assembly.
• Through other parts: When a part is selected, the edges of its holes, grooves and pockets show through other parts.
• Detached processes: A process detached from its surface doesn't cut anything. It's a semi-transparent volume that shows through the part, and in the design tree it moves out from under the part.

#Selecting a process

As with control points, select the part first, then the hole:

1. Click the part.
2. Click the hole (or a few pixels beside it; the same goes for a narrow groove). That process is selected.

To go back to the part, press Esc, click the same hole again or click the part itself. Deleting a process also returns the selection to the part.

#Badges and size card

A selected process has these badges: Move, Copy, Delete, Zoom, Detach / Attach and a badge for its own type (Drill, Groove or Pocket).

The size card opens on its own under the badge and shows:

The card also shows the name of the part the process is on.

#Positioning a process

#Distance to edges

Two framed numbers on the part show the hole's distance to the edges. Click either one and type a new value.

#Groove and pocket gizmo

The gizmo for a groove or pocket sits at its center, not on a point. To grab the point underneath, Ctrl + click it. If you move a groove or pocket so that all its points land on another face of the part, its plane switches to that face automatically.

#Stuck to the surface

If the part changes shape and a hole ends up off its surface, the hole moves back onto that surface along its axis. A hole on the face of a part stays put when you drag the part's side.

#Copying

Copying a process works like moving it, with the Copy checkbox and a count. Copies stay on the same part.

#Detach and attach

• The Detach badge separates a process from its surface.
• On a detached process, the same badge becomes Attach. Click it, then click the surface you want.
• Or drag the process's row in the design tree onto a part, and it attaches to that part's nearest surface.

#Processes and edge banding

A hole, groove or pocket that reaches the edge of a board cuts the edge band too. You can also place a process or draw a groove on the edge band itself; the board and the band are cut together. The middle of a board's thickness edge also has a Mid snap.

#Target in parent

On a process's card and its design tree row, you can leave the choice of target to the parent (Parent assembly (via input)). This creates an input on the larger assembly, where you choose which of its parts this process cuts. Read more about inputs in Assemblies and inputs.

#Cut overrun

Holes, grooves and pockets start slightly outside the surface so the cut comes out clean. The final shape is the same, and on screen the groove is still drawn from the surface itself.

• The default is 0.5 mm. Change it in Settings > Processes.
• A cross-section groove has its own Overrun setting on its card, and the canvas shows that value.