I’ve done a couple little things this week with the new vcarve inlay feature in V12 and i’m not sure i’m super impressed with it. I’m sure once i figure out the settings that work best i’ll be happier.
When i’ve manually done my inlays in the past they have been spot on without issues, in the testing i’ve done, i’ve had some gaps or slightly loose fit. I also seem to get the glue gap errors no matter what i set for depths.
I do like that it creates both toolpaths and the offset vectors automatically, that is slick at least.
Curious if anyone else has played around with it yet?
Here’s an inlay i did this week with it, i had to clean up a couple gaps with some epoxy mix, but still looks good and customer was super happy with it.
I have never been able to wrap my brain around start depth being below the material surface which has not yet been cut away. If you have your DOC set to .1 and the start depth is .2 does it really cut .3 on the first pass?
Yes, and that’s why they added the “Inlay mode” to CC. “Bottom Gap” now defines only where the vector gets traced, and start depth can be used to maintain a constant depth of cut.
Before Start Depth define both the top of remaining stock & the height/depth of the vector.
So, something to consider from a bit capability perspective as well as a material removal rate. Slow it down because it is taking a bigger bite that’s you would think I guess.
In Vetric starting the male inlay below the surface makes the inlay slightly smaller than the pocket. That makes the inlay seat slightly better in the pocket.
That video talks about the issue I was mentioning and he does a clearing pass before the male Vcarve to get the material down .2 so that from a Vcarve perspective it starts at the material surface.
That makes more sense to me although maybe not necessary given your bits and equipment. I would not normally cut .3 on a 1/4” bit in a single pass so I may give his method a try.
