First V-Carve attempt. Getting ‘empty toolpath’ for the name. Tried tweaking numbers and read several of the similar questions in the forum but still stumped. Could use some help. Thanks
Coaster 1.c2d (472 KB)
John,
Set your DOC for “Murray” to “t” and it comes up perfect in the simulation
Thanks Jeff, yes, that works. Please educate me on what does the ‘t’ stand for?
t == (stock) thickness
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Ah, thanks Will. I was trying to go 2mm from the starting point. I better understand the math now. The initial depth needs to be included in the overall depth. Correct?
Correct, it is an absolute, not a relative measure.
Also by using “t” as the max depth, the Vbit will only go as deep as it can without cutting into the next vector. It saves you from having to do the math 
Just take a good look at the simulation before you run the job to make sure it’s going to come out as desired
Just curious… will using “t” end up with the same DOC as doing the math like you did?
It will if you set 2mm as your project thickness in the setup tab.
That makes sense. So I guess using “t” is a wildcard depth based on the distance between
vectors
Often when designing I just put a place holder depth like .75". When I actually get the stock mounted I measure it and go into CC and change to the actual depth which might actually be .78 or .74. By using the “t” you told the tool path to cut to the depth of the stock like for a contour cutting out something. If you put the stock depth in the tool path you have to go to each tool path and change to the actual stock thickness. By using “t” all you have to do is change the material thickness in the “Setup” and then save the file and all tool paths are updated. The “t” only works if you want to cut from the top of the stock to the bottom of the stock.
Another trick I use successfully is to set in “Setup” to use bottom of stock instead of top of stock. This is a change of procedure for many but what you get in return is your spoilboard not all hacked up. I use bottom of stock about 90% of the time and my spoilboard is not all cut up. It is important to have the exact measurement of your stock because the first cut will assume you entered the stock height correctly. If the stock is actually higher than what you put in “Setup” then the first cut will be deeper than intended. If the stock is thinner than what you put in “Setup” then the first pass may not cut at all. However if you used bottom of stock even if you have the wrong material thickness you will not cut through your stock and mark up your spoilboard. Another benefit is you usually dont have an onion skin left behind to remove from your subject. Give it a try and see what you think.
One change is if you use jog rapid movements to go to the Z+6mm do not do that over your project. Jog off the project because the Z zero is the spoilboard plus 6MM and if over the project the bit will crash into your project.
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Thank you everyone. I have a much better understanding now on how to set things up. Much appreciated.
Not sure about a wildcard, t = the thickness entered in the setup of you project, where you set your X/Y dimensions for the project (i.e 12”x12”) . When you set the starting depth the program simply knows that t=2mm, which bounds the Z axis to only lower by 2mm (t) in this case from 6.350mm to 8.35mm.
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As noted, t == Stock Thickness
If we draw some geometry which will not limit cut depth:
and set up a toolpath to cut to t:
OK
Then it will cut to that depth:
If you add geometry to the toolpath which will narrow the region so that the cut depth will be limited by the geometry:
Then the cut, even though set to Max Depth == t:
the depth will be limited:
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