I need help engraving letters

[cutter22]

Hello every body hope someone can help. I'm learning cad on my own , I use bobcad-cam V21. I'm trying to learn how to engrave useing a v bit I wan't to use cutter height to change the width of my letters smoothly. were the ends are thinner and the middles are wider and deeper I think its called "ramping" to engrave fancier fonts. I'm trying to learn the proper terms for the operations ,you guys (and girls ?) are my teachers, I hope my question makes sense. Thanks


cutter22

[HuFlungDung]

What kind of contraction is "wan't" anyways? Always wanted to know

You are looking at some serious machining to do that. Sounds more like what V-carve might do for you than Bobcad.

[Boots]

All you need really is the proper software and it is Magic. I use Alphacam and engraving comes with the software. It does the ramping in and out to give better detail. If you try to do this with out the proper software you may not live long enough to get it done, because it is 3 axis moves. Unless you grew up on G code you will have a lot of problems.

[cutter22]

wan't means - I used proper punctuation BEFORE I started teaching myself CAD, CAM, and CNC
Thanks for the help

[greybeard]

I hesitate to add my experience to this thread, but I have just done this using a supposedly 2.5D program, with extremely limited G code functionality(ugh!).

I drew a Times Roman letter A in corel draw, overlaid a fine grid, and used that to give me the line and widths of various key points, like the serifs.

I then used an Open Office spreadsheet to calculate the z depths at every 5 degrees around the curves, and used these figures to build up the profile of sloping, straight line cuts that is all my software allows.

And it worked.

I don't recommend this as a method, but I learnt a lot doing it.

John

[LaserImage]

I hesitate to add my experience to this thread, but I have just done this using a supposedly 2.5D program, with extremely limited G code functionality(ugh!).

I drew a Times Roman letter A in corel draw, overlaid a fine grid, and used that to give me the line and widths of various key points, like the serifs.

I then used an Open Office spreadsheet to calculate the z depths at every 5 degrees around the curves, and used these figures to build up the profile of sloping, straight line cuts that is all my software allows.

And it worked.

I don't recommend this as a method, but I learnt a lot doing it.

John

Or, you could just by Vcarve and have it done for you. although if you are getting paid by the hour, your method is perfect!

[alrumeh]

thank you

[Nils]

This is my first post!

I have built my own CNC router 5' in X, 8' in Y and 6" in Z. It is runnign great but like everyone else I used all of my money on the machine and basic software.
Due to this I had to develop my own V-Carve data base. Take a look on Ebay and search under VCarve Text and CNC Router.

I actually figured out a way to develop the 3D contours needed to drive a 90° V tool that can make the carved letters just like the fancy programs without the cost.
It is all arc, line and spline geometery that can be scaled, copied and moved just like any other geometery in a CAD or CAM program. The end result is great and it is very fast.

Please E-mail me at mechsol@aol.com and I would be happy to give any additional information. I will also send a sample text letter A so you can test it with your system.

Thanks!

Nilsmechsol@aol.com

[greybeard]

Hi Nils, and welcome to the madhouse

I may well pm you for details, but for general info, what type of software/controller are you using ?
As you will see in my post, mine is extremely limited, and like so many others, funds are too limited to buy my way out of every problem that turns up.
So I hope my contribution is that for some of us, ingenuity can be an alternative route, and can be rewarding in other ways.
Regards
John