Routing depth question

[greenfrg]

I am wondering is it possible to route a variable depth line (or for that matter a square, rectangle or other shape) in the surface of a board? If so, how would you do it? An example of what I'm talking about might be starting the cut at a depth of 0.25" at one end of the board, and finishing with 0.50" depth at the other end. Thanks in advance.

[Kenm810]

greenfrg,

Welcome to the CW Forum,

If you didn't want to get to fancy,
you could just use Select Surface - Domes in Designer.
If you need to by more accurate you could get involved with using a Gray scale pattern .ptn

[ChrisAlb]

If you're talking about using a shaped bit and vector line, the only way would be to use a sled with the board mounted at an angle. And that would only work for straight lines.

Would be cool if we could set the Z depth of line ends though.

[greenfrg]

Thanks for your quick replies. I have a very early edition of the Compucarve machine, so now that it's finally out of the box I'm sure I'll be spending a lot more time here catching up on all the tricks, revisions and fixes it's bound to need!

Anyway, being able to set the Z depth along a line or path is what I was hoping for. I think this would be a great feature if it could be implemented. Even better if you could add nodes to a line or spline and set the Z depth at each node.

Angling the board on a sled is a beautifully simple answer. This should do the trick as all I need this time is a straight tapered cut. I'll also look into the domes option as I didn't know this feature existed. Both very helpful suggestions - thanks again.

[Kenm810]

Thought I'd try it this way too,
just for the fun of it. http://forum.carvewright.com/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[ChrisAlb]

You can add vertex points to a line but no Z depth adjustment.

Just right click on a line and select add vertex.

[greenfrg]

You're right. I just tried adding a point to a line and a spline and it works well. If anything it may be more user-friendly than Illustrator! Having Z axis control would still be a really nice feature, but until then thinking outside the box for workarounds should keep me entertained.

[Amonaug]

You could try adding a profile to a path instead of just applying a bit.

Tools > Select Depth Profile

[jlitz]

You could try adding a profile to a path instead of just applying a bit.

Tools > Select Depth Profile

Depth profiles start and/or end at 0.0" which is not the desired effect.