Using negative offset

I am trying to create a backgammon board. My plan is to pocket out the points on the playing surface and then use contour toolpath to cut out the triangles to inlay them into the pockets.
My question is, if I use no offset on the contour tool path, the triangle inlay will be same size as point pocket and won’t fit. if I want to make the inlays slightly smaller can I use an outside right contour path with a very small negative offset? will that shift the end mill closer to the vector line so that the resulting cut out is only slightly smaller?

You would normally use an inside offset for the pocket, and an outside offset for the inlay.

You could offset the curve for the inlay a little bit. Maybe 0.005". Or you could cut it to size & use a sanding block to fit it.

If the pocket goes off the edge of the board, then just make the inlay longer. As long as the angle is the same, it will fit perfectly tight. Then you trim the outside flush.

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