Hi all, appreciate any assistance you could provide. I’m trying to carve a labyrinth based on historical designs (eg, the Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth). There are many free SVG files of various designs, but I’m stuck on how to convert these into something I can use in Carbide Create. Basically, how do I take an SVG file of a labyrinth and convert this into a toolpath to carve the channel? I think I want to use a ball end or cove bit to carve out the channel using a zero offset contour toolpath, but the SVG files I’ve found outline the walls of the channel, so this toolpath would not work. Short of doing it by hand, is there a way to draw a vector the follows the centerline of the channel all the way around? If CC can’t do this, then maybe Inkscape can?
For example, the SVG of the Chartres Labyrinth is freely available on Wikipedia, and I’ve imported it into CC (and uploaded the .c2d file here). I want to carve a curved channel into the wood that starts at the red arrow:
Aha, thank you @willadams. What bit are you using in your simulation? When I try to simulate using a 1/4" ball end bit, the bottom of the channel is scalloped and not smooth, and larger cove bits won’t work with the design. I could use a 1/8" upcut but then the sides of the channels are straight up and down, not curved…
You could come close on the main channel by using a 0.375" bit (with a 0.1875 depth). There would still be a small ridge in the center of the channel, but I think a very small stepover on the tool could make it look pretty good.
Then you would need to clean up the outside serated/scalloped edge with a smaller tool.
