While I know how to create a series of holes in a material, how do you create its opposite? That is, a plane with a series of round posts? I imagine I’d lay out a rectangle vector, plop some smaller circles within it and perform a boolean operation of some kind? Then what with the toolpaths?
Hi @hooperbloob
Just draw that rectangle vector around the circles (and slightly larger than your stock), select all, and create a pocket toolpath, it should work. No need for boolean ops.
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FWIW, I think it would be safer to say that there is an implied Boolean operation at each level of nesting alternating between Subtraction and Union.
Guess I should make a page on Toolpaths.
so in carbide create, a pocket operation follows the “odd/even rule” (similar to what SVG does internally):
if you go from the far left (or right or top, it works from any direction) and you go to the right, you start out with not cutting out (0 lines = even), and each time you cross a line, you count how many lines you have crossed. so one you cross a line, the count becomes odd (1), and the area then will be cut out. if you cross another line, the count becomes even again (2) and the area does not get cut out. but if you were to cross a line again (3) the odd count will cause the area to be cut out again.
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“Boolean Subtraction”… must… resist… desire to correct… not. 
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