Hopefully I’ll get some status updates on the progress on this over the next couple of days.
A lot of time has been spent doing prep work do get to this point.
Right now the shield is made out of Purple Heart outlining the maple with epoxy inlays for the lettering. Had to make some hard choices about the lettering tear out, but all in all it’s super good so far.
Current doing the reverse contour cut on the backside to get everything .75” thick with a slight curve for the overall shield.
I’ve started doing the sword out of black walnut for the handle and cherry for the blade.
If I was in your shoes, after I kicked myself a few times, I would try to to carve out the a, and try filling it with ground up sawdust and CA. To get it positioned, I would generate the code for the outer perimeter, using a 1/4" tool in the settings. Using the code for the outer perimeter, I would use the 1/4" steel pin for my bitzero, and run it around the plaque without it being clamped into place. Once it was located on the bed, I would then clamp it down, and then run a code to carve out the inside of the A. While clamped in place, then I would fill the A, and see how it looks before unclamping it from the table.
Hindsight 20/20 and Monday morning quarterback etc.
I don’t know what all the wording means, but there needs to be more space around letters and words to make them distinctive and readable. I think you compromised too much with the font vs. available space. (I can say that from my experience, and I even use Vectric products which have a great preview function.)
