leaving top surface of the wood untouched

[myshop1044]

Attached is a test of a letter, I would like to leave the surface of the "F" untouched.
It will an aged wood surface, I created 2 split regions on both sides of the letter, by doing this does anyone think the carving bit will
not touch the top surface of the letter.
I kind of believe it will touch parts of the letter as it goes over parts of the wood surface as it tries to complete
the region on both sides of the letter. I know if I did a rect. region and did a raster letter, it would shave off the top of the letter.
What is your thoughts or how can we do this and not touch the top of the letter surface?

Perry B.

[bergerud]

In my experience 0.00 gets carved if it is part of a pattern which includes other depths. Different machines may be different. (If a pattern is all 0.00 it is ignored.) In a situation like yours, I would use a shim under the bit when it touches the board. Something like a box cutter blade. (In an emergency, you can always raise the head a little with the crank.)

Your carve is so deep, you could afford to use a fairly thick shim and be safe.

[fwharris]

My guess is that it will touch/carve to the tops of the letters. One method you might try is when the bit is finding the surface is to put a shim on the board for the bit to touch down on. I would do a test carve to verify...

[myshop1044]

Thank you fellows I like the shim method, I have used it when doing lettering and I don't want the centerline text to be too deep.
Thanks again

Perry B.