Deeper Centerline

[bergerud]

I am not a big sign maker who uses text much but, others have complained about not being able to make centerline deeper. For certain fonts or other angles of V bits, one might like to control the depth. If you have conforming vectors, you can make centerline cut deeper. It is not an elegant solution but it works.

It is simple. Type your centerline text. Copy and paste it on top of itself. Change one copy to inverted raster at a shallow depth. Choose conform for the centerline.

One does not actually have to carve the raster text. One could take out the carving bit and let it air carve.

In some situations, this might be useful.

[lynnfrwd]

Or...you could just use a thicker font...

[bergerud]

Or...you could just use a thicker font...

True, but this method allows for some tweaking of the font you have. It is WYSIWYG as opposed to altering bit lengths. If the project also has carve regions, it is no big deal to pre-carve for the centerline.

But besides all that, you know how I like tricks!!

[lynnfrwd]

Why create a complicated "trick" that might confuse people?

Some people on here are new and might think your way is the way to do it.

[bergerud]

I take your point but I do not know what else to say. I like to share tricks on the forum with others who might find them useful. This, for one, has been an ongoing subject. With all of the different kinds of fonts, centerline depth really should allow for some slight adjustments.

I will try to put my suggestions into better context in the future so new people will not be confused. (Just reading Bergerud's posts may void warranty. LOL)

[lynnfrwd]

Centerline calculates the middle of the font and the bit carves from one edge of the font to the other edge of font.
The further apart the edges, the deeper it has to go for the structure of the bit to meet both edges.
The closer the edges, the shallower it has to go for the structure of the bit to meet both edges.

How do you "set a depth" and still stay within the edges of a font without the structure of the bit blowing out the edges of that font?

In your own example, you did not keep the integrity of the font. You made it deeper and the bit "trespassed" the outline of the font.

[bergerud]

Thank you for explaining how centerline works to put this in context for new users.


To put the trick into context:

Fonts are made for printers. There are times when a printer font looks better carved at a slightly different depth.

Some more experienced users are using different shaped V bits and need to carve at deeper depths to get back to the font edges.

If I want to carve some text on a painted board, stain the text, and then plane it, I would want to initially carve the text deeper.

There are, I am sure, other reasons why an advanced user might want to tweak the depth of their centerline.

It is for these "out of the box" reasons that I think some may find the trick of use.

[rickroy]

I will be trying this trick. Thanks for posting. My method for skirting the problem inherent in Centerline Text has been to swap bits ... I use a short 60 V bit during the measuring stage of the project but use a bit that is about 1/16 longer for the actual carving. This has worked pretty well for me. I would appreciate a way to set the depth though.

[DickB]

Interesting trick. I think it is more trouble than it is worth, what with the air carve or extra raster carve. That said, I see how it could be useful for this: "If I want to carve some text on a painted board, stain the text, and then plane it, I would want to initially carve the text deeper."

Frankly I have never seen a problem with centerline, and in my opinion most people who want deeper centerline text don't really understand the mechanism. You can't carve deeper without carving wider when using a v bit. Centerline is brilliant at converting text stroke width into the correct depth and vectors to produce exactly that font's width with the 90 or 60 degree v bit. If you want deeper, go wider on the font, just like Connie said (and use the 60 rather than the 90 bit). No disrespect, but I do not agree with this statement at all: "...skirting the problem inherent in Centerline Text..." - to my way of thinking, there is no inherent problem with centerline text. It works brilliantly.

[fwharris]

And then there is, turn the font into a vector/dxf and then you can adjust the depth. Of course it is a bit more work.