Recreating angled features

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

As requested on support…

Given a design:

How does one re-create this?

It’s a matter of a couple of V carving toolpaths, and some contour work with pockets.

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

First, set up the job in terms of stock size/thickness, &c.:

Then, import the pixel image as a reference using “Set Background”:

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Draw in geometry which describes:

• the V angle cuts (which will be cut with V carving toolpaths)
• the flat bottom area of the pockets which will be cut with both square tools (to get the flat bottom) and ball-nosed tools (to get the rounding)
• the outer geometry of the cutting board (so that it can be cut free)

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Use the Polyline tool to draw in a triangular shape which describes one of the regions:

(use the grid to ensure that the geometry is centered/symmetrical)

Use Node Editing if need be to adjust:

If need be, draw in geometry which describes the region which you wish to trim off:

and use Boolean Subtract (or Trim Vectors) to remove it:

Repeat this for the other regions:

It will be helpful to select the central geometry and use Trim Vectors to get things to line up nicely:

OK

Delete what isn’t needed:

Then use the polyline tool to draw in the missing geometry:

Select it and the trimmed geometry:

and use “Join Vectors” to join them:

(note it may be necessary to use the command twice)

Once half the branches are drawn:

Select them:

duplicate them:

Done

Mirror Vertical:

and drag into position:

Note that the geometry should not be merged together — instead, it will be necessary to assign separate V carving toolpaths to the geometry.

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Draw in geometry which describes the flat bottom of the pockets:

Use Boolean Union:

to join things

Then go into Node Edit mode and delete extraneous nodes to get a smooth join:

Zoom in as necessary to determine and select what should be deleted:

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Lastly draw in the geometry for the outer contour:

and offset it by endmill diameter plus 10%:

Apply

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Lastly apply toolpaths:

Select the upper and lower branches:

and assign a V carving toolpath

Assign a second V carving toolpath for the central geometry:

Assign a pocket toolpath to the geometry for the surrounding juice groove to a reasonable depth:

(Note that the depth may need to be adjusted based on the size of the ball-nosed tool you will be using)

Repeat for the deeper geometry:

(duplicating and unioning geometry and assigning multiple toolpaths so as to avoid air-cutting and achieve more efficient toolpathing is left as an exercise for the reader)

Then assign no-offset contour toolpaths using a ball-nosed tool to the geometry which wants the rounded elements:

Lastly assign a pocket toolpath for the surrounding geometry down to tab height or the penultimate pass:

Then an outside-right contour to finish the cut:

Go back to the design tab to add tabs:

and the 3D preview is pretty much what is desired (after changing the V tool used for one sufficiently large):

The ball-nosed tool and so forth would want to be adjusted as well.

[ehendrix (Eric Hendrix)]

Again, Will comes through with an answer exceeding expectations.
WooHoo! Great Job!