Yes, it is a very old topic. The only thing this thread adds to the discussion is the fact that KiCAD uses the term “Drill” in its dialogs, instead of “Hole”. In my mind, asking for a wording change from “Drill” to “Hole” is a valid bug report. Is this problem present when the dialogs are rendered in other languages, or mainly just in English?
"The overwhelming majority of fabricators expect you to specify the FINISHED size of the hole. The last time I encountered a fabricator who wanted the drill size was at least 15 years ago (perhaps 20). From the perspective of manufacturing philosophy it should be no other way. You, as board designer, have a requirement to create a certain hole size. But you have no knowledge of the processes used by the fabricator to create plated-through holes, much less any control over them. The fabricator will do the initial drilling, pre-plating, plating, and after-plate finishing. If he has these processes under control he can reliably predict the finished hole size much better than you can guess the outcome. A fabricator who tells you to specify the initial drill size is saying, in effect, that he is not using well-controlled processes. "
I wrote that in the thread at Footprint Editor: Enter Final Hole Dia or Drill Dia? - #3 by dchisholm . To date, I see no reason to alter or modify that statement. The mapping of initial hole size to finished hole size may vary from fabricator to fabricator. The formula can vary when you ask for copper of a different “weight”. And then there’s the question of mechanical twist drills versus laser-drilling, or other exotic manufacturing techniques that may appear in the future. Tell the fabricator that you want to buy a hole of a certain size, and let him figure out how to accomplish that.
Another thread where I discussed this topic is at Finished hole sizes after plating: how does the calculation work? - #14 by dchisholm
Dale