Small text - what font, what bit?

[karossii]

I am trying to fit a lot of text onto a piece probably a bit too small for it. Because of this, I am ending up with a line height of about 3/16" and an average character width of about 1/8" with most fonts. I've toyed with bold or not, various fonts... but I haven't yet found anything I am satisfied will carve well, no matter how it looks in designer. I want to make sure this doesn't come out illegible, have characters cut into one another, lose strokes on characters, etc., etc. I don't often use centerline text, and never have I tried to make it this small.

Would the 90 or 60 bit work better?
Which font(s) seem to work best at these smaller sizes?
I plan to use either walnut or cherry (waiting for final decision from the family)... is there a better wood I should suggest instead, to have a smooth carve for this small text?

Normally, I'd just advise my customer to revise the text, or increase the size; but this is a cremation urn for my wife's grandfather, and they're pretty set on what they want on it - and I can only make it so big... so I want to do my best to get it done for them like they want it.

[FWMiller]

The 60 bit works better for very small text. Are you using designer 2/3 or 1.187? The newer versions have a better centerline algorithm which may handle the smaller size better. Results with centerline is highly dependent on the fonts so experiment with different fonts. Sometimes fonts that look very similar can have different results once you carve them. Also experiment with and without bold. On some fonts bold can help with the text definition and with dinner I find it just mushes them together.

As far as wood I'd expect walnut to work well since it cuts smoothly without any tendency to leave stringy fibers behind.

[Sliverfoot]

I agree, I've done some lettering on picture frames that was kind of small and the 60 degree worked well for me, you get better detail. experiment with the fonts. I have also had good results with mahogany.

[DickB]

The 60 degree generally works better for smaller text because for the same font and size it cuts deeper than the 90 degree.
3/16" tall is really pushing it.
Fonts like Times New Roman have fine detail like the serifs, and fine lines like the left side of the A, that tend to get lost : A
I would stick with Arial-like fonts with no serifs and uniform stroke widths. Bold may help, but will also shrink enclosed spaces like the triangle inside the A which can lead to chipout : A
Definitely worth running some experiments with scrap.