Hello All,
So I have this heart shape…
The orange lines represent the paths but I would like to engrave between the paths in the areas pointed out by the black lines.
With V bits, the Vcarve and Advanced Vcarve options in CC work well but if I’d like to use a ball nose end mill how would I go about engraving these sections?
Many thanks,
Gunter
Heart medal.c2d (100 KB)
What size ball mill, and how deep?
0.5mm ball nose and 0.2mm or even 0.1mm deep.
Thanks,
Gunter
Once you have the file imported:
Draw in geometry to determine the narrowest section:
Then inset by that distance:
and assign a toolpath:
Will, thank you very much for your detailed explanation. A couple of questions:
You say draw in geometry to determine the narrowest section - do you just eyeball what looks like the narrowest section? Also, when you draw in the circle, how do you do it from one path to the other so it accurately ‘snaps’, I mean is there an option to draw a circle between two points?
Using the Contour toolpath, I’m still getting these little islands:
Could you let me know if I’m doing something incorrectly?
Many thanks,
Gunter
You would need to adjust things, or draw in additional geometry to address the islands — cutting them as pockets might work.
Thanks again Will, pocketing as a second operation worked!
Gunter
I think, rather than offsetting what you really want is a centerline for each heart
Then do the math. For a 0.5mm ball and a 0.36mm width, you want a depth of 0.077mm
SQRT((0.25^2)-(0.18^2)) = 0.077
Or skip the offset / centerline, and just pocket it. You will need a 0.345 mm ball tool (Just for programming, use the 0.5mm on the machine), and the same depth of 0.077. I would use a really small stepover (0.01mm).
Or you could do some more math & program an Adv. V-Carve with a 134° Vee bit at 0.077 deep with a tiny stepover on the V bit (0.01mm) and a clearance tool too big to fit.
Thank you Tod, I’m interested - how do you create a toolpath that is in the centerline between two paths?
Also, where did you get a 0.36mm width from? My math skills are essentially zero but I would very like to understand how to work this out.
Thank you!
Gunter
I used Will’s 0.180 (*2) for the minimum width. If I measure it at the narrowest spot I get
For the centerline, I offset the outside heart by 0.18, made 2 more duplicates, scaled & rotated them to fit.
For the 0.077 depth, here’s my math…
I just used the Pythagorean theorem to solve the triangles. (side² + side² = hypotenuse²)
There are calculators online if you don’t want to do the math. 
Does Tenacious D believe in better living through math or what?
To find the narrowest spot, first I guessed (right near where Will did), then did a pocket path with a 0.36 tool, trial & error down to a 0.35 tool, and looked for the 1 spot it didn’t cut.
This is not the greatest equation in the world, this is a tribute 
This is fantastic Tod, thank you very much. I think the math is beyond me, but the rest makes absolute sense!
Much appreciated,
Gunter
Enter the tool dia, and the Stepover (width of your cut). Scallop height will be your depth.
Or, worse case, hit us up here. Plenty of math geeks on this site
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