Another day another project…and another question.
I had my Vee60 set to go 1/8 inch into this half inch plywood. Still looks like crap and it’s not the first time I’ve come across something like this.
Should I use a pocket instead of a vcarve when it’s so small? Should I use a thicker font? These letters are approx half inch in height should I carve deeper? Advanced v carve? V90?
Harsh criticism and advice always welcome
Thanks
I have found that really small text is best cut by a 45 degree or 30 degree vbit (or even smaller angle). Might want to give one a try if you want to keep the text the size it is.
I agree with @Microwave_Monkey regarding the v-bit angle. When you are cutting very narrow lines, the depth the bit drops below the stock surface zero becomes really shallow, to the point that ANY deviation of flatness of your surface becomes readily apparent. Also, if you have not trammed your machine and surfaced your waste board, you will have unsatisfying results as well.
Also, as far as the finish of the letters - I take a finishing pass of 0.01" to clean up the cut inside the letters, and a light sanding with 320 or 400 grit takes care of the fuzzies without worrying about ripping the grain out of the finer details.
EDIT: If you just need the job done, you can create the g-code for each word, and re-zero at the center of each word. I would hope that your surface is flat enough that there would be minimal change of surface height for a single word. I had to do that for a job before I trammed and leveled my waste board. It was not fun creating individual files for 15 different words, but it worked out for that job that had to get in the mail.
Thanks guys, totally on board with the vee30 idea. Time to add to cart.
For this current project which I need to have done in a few days ammo better off using the pocket function or maybe my 1/8 ball endmill?
Unless your picture is deceiving me in font size i dont believe your 1/8in ball mill will fit into the text and would be unable to carve most of it.
Have you tried running a cleanup path at full depth right after? Might help in cleaning things up.
so what exactly is a cleanup path at full depth?..sounds great, just dont know how to do it 
Dupe your toolpaths, then editing the depth per pass to be equal to or greater than the largest depth of cut should get full depth cuts for them.
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