Turns out a bit of patience and trying again w/ Inkscape — this time sending in a properly composite path as I usually advocate for works:
Apparently I used too large an offset — should’ve been half what is shown. Fixing this is left as an exercise for the reader.
Soc3d.c2d (2.4 MB) — the Carbide Create file is provided only for reference, there’s no reasonable way to offset the paths in it. Go back to the SVG at: file: Soc3d.svg
You can’t open files into Carbide Create by double-clicking on them (though that will launch the program) you have to manually invoke the “Open” menu and manually navigate to the file location (or paste the path in in Windows, or drag the icon into the dialog box using a Mac) to open things.
They need to have the proper winding (be opposite of the other paths in the selection) and have to be selected with the other paths. Please see: https://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Carbide_Create_V-carving_(advanced) for the specifics. If that doesn’t help, post your file here and we’ll gladly look into it.
Anyway, eventually you arrive at something like:
Which previews as:
Note the small uncarved space near the “C” which is too small to remove w/ a 1/8" square endmill in a pocketing path.
Zipped version attached here: so3cd.zip (310.6 KB)
Is that an outline font? If you use an outline font, then only the outline will be left as an island, the central part of the text will be cut as a pocket as well.
If not, you need to select the inner border (you’ll need two though only one is shown below) as well when assigning the toolpath, and you need to use a Pocket, not an Outside, Inside, or No Offset path. See attached:
Jamie, it looks like the letters are outlined (they have two lines defining them). They should only have one line defining their shapes.
I don’t know just how large your project is but I think those smaller letters on the bottom may prove impossible to have ‘raised’ like the larger ones. Raising the bottom inside frame line to enclose those letters then v-carving them is a more likely method.
To get the larger letters to be ‘islands’ within the frame first select the inside frame line then also select the letter shapes then choose the pocket option in the toolpaths menu.
May not help here, but related… a technique I use all the time is to use a V bit on a normal tool path (not a V-carve). If you set the path “no offset” with a V bit (prior to doing a pocket or profile cut set to “outside” or “inside”) at just a few hundredths will make a nice bevel around the whole path without ANY additional file setup work.
I also find that using this technique at even 1/100" just to “score” the tool path helps prevent some material shredding on the surface around the path that you’d get going straight in with a square end mill.
So I wanted to share this in hopes that someone may could still help with this subject/topic. Pocketing around Raised Letters. I’m having issues with bits still being left, even after running sims with 1/16 bit that I don’t even own, but I still ran it to see if it would help. So I’m wondering if the fonts in my design are just not the right fonts or are the too close? I didn’t know that I’d have to treat the lettering with such special care, but if that’s the name of the game, I can adjust. I’m hoping maybe I just have some settings wrong instead of my fonts. Sample4Help.c2d (1.1 MB) Sample4Help.nc (2.6 MB)
I would suggest looking into Advanced Vcarving with the Pocket clearing enabled (you’ll need a BitSetter or some way to ensure consistent endmill stickout at tool changes).
V carving doesn’t have the requirement that the narrowest area be 10% wider than the endmill diameter which is the problem I suspect you’re having (couldn’t really tell from your file since it uses fonts I don’t have on my computer).
But with this advanced vcarving, doesn’t that only work for the V Bit? I’m actully trying to clear space with the endmill right? That bitsetter thingy is out of my recently Burnt To A Crisp - Budget
