How to convert a shape into the perimeter that actually gets carved by a tool of a given diameter.
For text, you’ll need to Convert to curves. The first step is you need to separate the Outside cuts from the Inside cuts. In this case, the only Inside cut is the center of the ‘e’.
Here are the Outside cuts:
Now offset by the radius of the tool. For outside cuts, offset Outside, Inside cuts offset Inside. This basically creates the path that the center of the tool follows.
Take that new set of vectors, and now offset Inside by the same amount. Inside cuts, offset outside.
Deleting the outside vector, we can compare the orginal the the perimeter that would actually be cut. Notice the area between the ‘x’ and ‘t’ - the tool would not fit between there!
Repeating for the Inside cut, and we end up with:
