My first project after making stuff for the CNC like holddowns. A friend of the wife’s wants a #1 for a first birthday party. She’s going to decorate it herself.
I found a font with a good digit shape and typed it into Word in a large size. I took a snapshot of that part of the screen to create a png file. I imported the png file into Inkscape, I used the Trace Bitmap function to create an object I could work with. I then used the Fill and Stroke function, set the fill to nothing and the stroke to a black line. Then saved it as an svg.
In Fusion 360 I created a block that was 1/2" thick (same as my material) and a bit larger than I needed. Inserted the svg onto the face of the block, resized and centered it on the block which gave me the outline. I then went into CAM and cut the outline using a contour.
The base was a simple 5 inch square block with a slot. It took me about 3 tries to get the slot width right so I could get a nice tight fit with the number.
The problem is that Carbide Create does not offer me that font. I had the same issue in Inkscape. Typing it into Word and doing a partial screen capture to get a png file seemed like the easiest solution.
I was using some scrap that had been planed to 0.5" a year or so ago and it still measured 0.497". The slot I ended up with was 0.518" and that gave me a very tight fit which is what I wanted. I’m not sure if they’ll use the base so I wanted it to be removable. Realize that I have not tuned my steps so your mileage may vary. I tested by setting up a model with 3 slots with slightly varying widths and milled that. Then I test fit the 1 in each slot and selected the one that seemed the best fit. The 1 seemed to be nice and flat but if there was even an unnoticeable bow in it that would affect the fit.
Inkscape is free and should have access to any font which Word has. Also, Carbide Create may have had that font available, just somewhere odd in the font list, or with an oddly mangled name.
