Text Outline Cut Looks Centerlined

[Underdog]

I've finally found the font I want to use on a sign, but I have two problems.

I want raised lettering so I selected "outline" for the cut.

It looks like the cut isn't outlining. It looked like the bit is traveling on the center of the outline instead of outside the outline.63256
How do I fix this?

[lynnfrwd]

Select raster for raised lettering.

Outline rout outlines the inside and outside of the letter.

Centerline calculates the center of the font and carves with v-bit.

Outline path (different from outline rout) can be on outside or inside of font.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dbfletcher]

In order to have "raised" lettering, you have to removed the material around what you want to be raised. You most likey still want to use raster text, and just put a carve region over it to make the letters raised. See attached.

[Underdog]

I appreciate the responses, but I still don't know the answer to my question.

The picture I posted shows the problem. I don't know how CW comes up with it's terminology, so please pay more attention to my picture than my terms.

The picture shows the 1/8" bit's toolpath cutting along the center of the text outlines - as opposed to around the inside of the outline, or as opposed to the outside of the outline.

How do I make the edge of that 1/8" tool cut along the OUTSIDE of the outline? I don't really want to use "Raster" unless I have to. Carving the whole region is WAY slower than using a 2D path.

[Underdog]

So that's the first problem - getting the edge of the 1/8" bit to cut around the edge of the white outline rather than travel directly down the center of the white outline.

The second problem is how to pocket the area between the text outlines, and a surrounding square or oval?

I would like to cut all this area out with a 2D pocketing path rather than a raster cut.

[bergerud]

You can make the text raster and then use tools - outline pattern(s) to get the outline curves you want. Now assign the bit to the outlines. You will need to inset as well.

[Underdog]

Wow. That's counter-intuitive. If you want an outline cut on text, then you have to set it to raster cut, then change it to a pattern outline, then choose the right bit to outline it with, then give it a negative inset?

I expect it to do all that if I set it to outline. Simple. Done deal.


Thanks for giving me the answer I needed though. It's working.... NOW if I can just figure out why one set of text is acting differently than the other. Might be easier to just start over...

[DickB]

I expect it to do all that if I set it to outline. Simple. Done deal.
I guess "Outline" is designed to be used with a v bit. Then it is a simple one click and done.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I use the Outline with a 3/8 inch plunge bit to outline 2.25 inch tall Single Stroke Fonts to mimic the look of a hand held router cut sign with a plastic template. For taller text you use a bigger bit and smaller text a smaller bit. I cut .1 deep. It must be a PLUNGE bit with a cutter on the bottom.

That "Outline" Feature has made me THOU$ANDS of Dollars... I at first needed to match the OLD hand cut signs when I BID for the Contract to do the backlog of signs for the OFFICE... Later I used Centerline Text that has made me a fortune too over the years. I send a PDF file I make in Corel Draw by email that I use a find and replace command to change the file to the name the customer wants. Giving them 50 Font Choices....

As for cutting out letters... I have done many PVC letters cut by the machine.... But in the future I will cut a Hardboard letter on the machine and use a Router Table and Bearing Bit to make the actual letter. Faster and Smoother Finish on the letters.

AL

[cestout]

Unless you are cutting the letters out to use separately, cutting them out with the straight cutting bit is a bad Idea. You were not around in the bad old days before we got "drift". Cut out straight up lettering will chip out. Use raster and a medium drift for best results with your chosen font. For a font with thinner parts use more drift.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Did I miss something... "draft"... not "drift". The Taper on the side of letters or a pattern. I am still using 1.184....

AL

[mtylerfl]

It is Draft...Clint just made a typo...no feature called drift yet...unless you don't use masking tape under MDF material...:p

[Underdog]

LOL! That's a new one. DRIFT, I've got that feature! LHR should sell blue tape with every purchase as a mandatory add-on! :mrgreen:

[Underdog]

What I'm trying to do is re-create a sign I made on a larger industrial router. I used a pocketing feature in AlphaCAM (or was in AutoCAD/RouterCIM?) to clear the area between an oval and some raised lettering. I then ran a V-bit around all the lettering and the ovals to bevel the edges. Went really quickly too. I'm finding out the only way to pocket between odd shapes is to manually draw in vectors.... :(

[dcalvin4]

i would make a large carve region way larger than what letters u are using ......then apply letters to the region ...then use table saw to trim exess
denny

[DickB]

What I'm trying to do is re-create a sign I made on a larger industrial router. I used a pocketing feature in AlphaCAM (or was in AutoCAD/RouterCIM?) to clear the area between an oval and some raised lettering. I then ran a V-bit around all the lettering and the ovals to bevel the edges. Went really quickly too.
Like this?
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I'm finding out the only way to pocket between odd shapes is to manually draw in vectors.... :(
Not sure I understand.

[Underdog]

Not quite like that, no. Sorta like that:

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Here's an MPC.

I've seen now that I can't do with CW what I can do with my other CAD/CAM packages. I'd love to run a 2D path between the letter and the circle. I can do it, but I'm not sure it's worth all the manual design time it would take to create all the vectors necessary.

*On a side note, if you open the MPC file and click on the "T" in the Carving List, you'll note that the depth is set at .125". That's the only way I've found to get the height of the letter to pop up to .25". Odd behaviour...*
**Ah... never mind. That depth is how far below the bottom of the carved region the letter T will go... if I set it to zero thet T stays level with the top of the board.**

[DickB]

Ah, I see. It can be done. Place the raised text in a carve region. Select the text and click the Outline tool. With the outlines selected, click on Select Bit, choose the 90-degree bit, set the depth to .1" or whatever.
For the carve region, duplicate the oval but with no carve region, select the 90 degree bit as for the text. Only takes a couple minutes design time.

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[Underdog]

To do it the way I showed in my MPC above, I did it just that way. I understand that now. But it's still not possible to do it easily with a 2D path. It's carved out with the carving bit instead of a flat bottomed router bit. I still say it takes more time. Carving always does take more time than a straight 2D path.

I'll make a test MPC to show the difference....

[DickB]

Sorry, I did not take a close look at your mpc. I take your point about carving versus flat-bottom bit - that is one feature that we don't have. For one of my projects I manually set up to cut a rectangle with the 1/8 cutting bit. It was a deep pocket so I set the cut to take multiple passes. It was actually faster to carve in draft mode (which was good enough for that project as the pocket was hidden).

[Underdog]

Geezzz...

I set up a pocketing routine for an 8 inch circle down to a 2 inch raised circle. The carving time was about 39 minutes with the 1/16th tapered ballnose. Setting up vectors from 8 in to 2 in and cutting with the 1/8th cutting bit took a lot of time and bogged down my PC. It also loaded onto the card at a whopping hour and 39 minutes. So roughly 3 times the time for the 2D paths. It's gotta be all the bit picking up and putting down on the 2D. If you made it a continuous spiral path even with an 1/8th inch bit it should cut out faster.

[lynnfrwd]

Geezzz...

I set up a pocketing routine for an 8 inch circle down to a 2 inch raised circle. The carving time was about 39 minutes with the 1/16th tapered ballnose. Setting up vectors from 8 in to 2 in and cutting with the 1/8th cutting bit took a lot of time and bogged down my PC. It also loaded onto the card at a whopping hour and 39 minutes. So roughly 3 times the time for the 2D paths. It's gotta be all the bit picking up and putting down on the 2D. If you made it a continuous spiral path even with an 1/8th inch bit it should cut out faster.

Can you post or send your mpc file for this? There may be a faster way to do it, but I'm not 100% clear on what you did.

[DickB]

If you made it a continuous spiral path even with an 1/8th inch bit it should cut out faster.
That's the way the Drill tool works. A 4" circle 1/2" deep is predicted at about 11 minutes with the drill tool and 26 minutes carving on Normal.

[Underdog]

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Here's the 2D pathed MPC.

I'll post the carved one in the next post.

[Underdog]

Here's the carved one.

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[Underdog]

Oh yeah.. I forgot about the drill tool. I suppose it won't leave islands though?

[bergerud]

Wow, a lot of curves. The problem with concentric curves is that the bit lifts up and down between cutting each curve. That takes more time and results in a bottom not as smooth. What I do is cut back and forth in the y direction and then follow around the boundary all in one curve. Hell to draw.

[Underdog]

Yeah... I almost think you make up in design time what you save in machining time. If you're going to do a lot of them, then I think it's better to do the 2D pathing though. Maybe not with the CW, but with the industrial grade machine I have at work...

[Capt Bruce]

Have you looked at Michael's Tips and Tricks Videos on Pocket cutting. In the 2nd one he outlines the trick using Corel Draw to do that path outline automatically. Does require DFX Import but might eliminate all the line drawing. I'll try your shape and see what it generates.

[Capt Bruce]

Back again with the 8" circle centered on a 9" square board. You will see 43 lines placed by CorelDraw based on moving the bit 3/32" between passes. The circles can all be elected at once and assigned the 1/8" cutting bit to lower the whole area to the depth you wish to have. To leave a 2" circle in the center, first draw a 2" circle using the Designer and then set its depth to zero. Hope this helps

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