Projecting Line, Autocad 2005

[Nmbmxer]

Does anyone know how to project a line onto an curved surface? I use autocad to generate toolpaths and I want to engrave some text on a curved surface, is there a way to project the lines onto the surface?

[ger21]

Not really, although here's something you could try. If it's a mesh surface, make a copy and convert the mesh to a solid using m2s from http://www.accustudio.com/marketplace/freeware.htm

Extrude the text and subtract it from the solid, then explode the resulting solid into regions, and explode the regions into the lines you want. I haven't tried it, but it should work.

[Nmbmxer]

I tried that, sort of. The text I usually use is made up of lines and therefore have no area to make a solid. I tried ofsetting the text in z-plane, one above and one in the surface of the solid, I then made a ruled surface between the two sets of text. I was hoping that I could intersect the surface and the solid and get the lines projected on the surface in the z-plane. But, it didnt work... I do this kind of thing all the time in inventor...