Patent ID: 7476065

Claim:
A method for drilling holes in a printed board using a selected drilling element held by a spindle, the method comprising: selecting a drilling element corresponding to a diameter of a hole to be drilled in the printed board, the drilling element being selected from a plurality of drilling elements, each drilling element of the plurality of drilling elements having a different nominal diameter and being identified by a different number of revolutions of the spindle while drilling with the drilling element; holding the selected drilling element by the spindle; controlling a movement of the spindle with respect to the printed board; rotationally driving the selected drilling element using the spindle holding the selected drilling element; and setting in advance, for each drilling element, a corresponding extension length, which is a length that each drilling element is to extend out of the spindle when held by the spindle, each corresponding extension length of each respective drilling element being set according to a nominal diameter of the respective drilling element and a number of revolutions of the spindle while drilling with the respective drilling element, wherein said holding of the selected drilling element includes holding the selected drilling element so that the selected drilling element extends out of the spindle by the corresponding extension length.