Designer 3.0 and Vector Grouping feature

[FWMiller]

Do you have control over the max allowed depth in v-carve? Or is it fixed like with centerline?

[mtylerfl]

V-Carve depth is always determined automatically by the distance between the vectors...similar to the way centerline text is calculated. A v-bit travels down into the wood as far as the distance between enclosing vectors allow, but no deeper than the depth of the cutting flutes of the bit itself. Again, this is the same as centerline text carving.

Even if you wanted to manually control depth (which you really don't), it would distort/spoil your design (and text).

BTW, if you own the Conform add-on, you can V-carve on domes, a dished area and within carve regions!

[mtylerfl]

Do you have control over the max allowed depth in v-carve? Or is it fixed like with centerline?

I may have misunderstood your question...I think you meant can you set a Max Pass for V-carving so the job would be performed in multiple passes (sort of like the drill, manual bit assignments or Cut Path functions). Answer - No, you can't. I don't think this will be a problem - the tests I have done don't seem to have the "need" for that anyway.

[FWMiller]

V-Carve depth is always determined automatically by the distance between the vectors...similar to the way centerline text is calculated. A v-bit travels down into the wood as far as the distance between enclosing vectors allow, but no deeper than the depth of the cutting flutes of the bit itself. Again, this is the same as centerline text carving.

Even if you wanted to manually control depth (which you really don't), it would distort/spoil your design (and text).

My question is related to whether or not the software limits the max depth it will allow the bit to go, in effect limiting the width of the v-carve you can do. I don't want to manually control the depth of the entire carve just the max depth. I notice in centerline that the maximum depth is about .225 before it splits the carve into two paths. My 90 degree bit can cut about 3/8" deep and up to about 5/8" in width at max depth. I think the CW bit is about the same. I would like the ability to cut deeper than .225, which would also require multiple passes.

In a related topic on vector carving, if the cut out region between two vectors is wider than the max width that can be done on one pass, is the bottom be carved flat at the max depth or does it simply make a pass at each edge leaving two overlapping v-grooves?
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[RMarkey]

limiting the width of the v-carve

same as in centerline, it splits into multiple paths. The bottom is not carved flat (not possible w/ a 90v... )


I should state you can convert the vector path into a pattern and edit it, or otherwise add raster regions to achieve the flats you are looking for

[mtylerfl]

...
In a related topic on vector carving, if the cut out region between two vectors is wider than the max width that can be done on one pass, is the bottom be carved flat at the max depth or does it simply make a pass at each edge leaving two overlapping v-grooves?
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Please see the earlier post #8 in this thread.

[Ton80]

same as in centerline, it splits into multiple paths. The bottom is not carved flat (not possible w/ a 90v... )


I should state you can convert the vector path into a pattern and edit it, or otherwise add raster regions to achieve the flats you are looking for

I have done this in the past with v-carves that needed islands of wood leveled out but I instead do it by hand in the shop with a router because it's a bit faster but it's a good point to note!


OK Michael, here is an example to see what you think is more suited to the type of carvings I am doing. I have downloaded the demo but haven't installed yet because my time has been stretched to it's limits lately.

This represents a typical level of detail I have in a project that is currently V-carved with Centerline as a font. Process is to vectorize the image in inkscape then export that image as a PNG. The PNG file is them imported to font software where it's again traced automatically with the import feature available ( in my case Fontlab's ScanFont ). Then imported into designer as a font or multiple fonts which are placed and scaled appropriately. I guess my question is if I told you that this particular project took about 10 minutes to import using that routine, do you see any problems with the way grouped vectors are dealt with based on the B/W image which I have attached? I am not sure if some or many of these lines/paths would be considered a problem.
This is the PNG export of my SVG vector from inkscape
This is the resulting Centerline carve after I have imported that PNG into my font software as font glyphs

This is the preliminary painting work which makes it easier to see how detailed of a v-carve I am able to fairly easily get using my current process.

[brdad]

I've not had great luck using the same font software making anything that detailed especially when they are carved large, so I hope the vector groups make it easier.

Regarding the limitation of not overlapping vectors, can you make two independent vector groups and have those overlap without issue? In other words, if I had a dog as a vector group and a fire hydrant as a separate vector group, could those overlap?

[DocWheeler]

Ton80,

That looks great. I need to use my time better and learn how to do that.

[DickB]

Is it possible to import a black-and-white image as a pattern, outline the pattern, then apply v-carve?