How too Question

[mikie]

Hi All,

i want to route so that the text that i write is raised.
Can any one advise me of the best method to complete this.

my thoughts were:

- write the text
- invert the black/white
- put through some rastor to vector processor
- make gcode

Also,
when i create rastor to vector, (using turbocad), i find that i have to do a lot of manual work on the image, actually, i think it would be quicker to just trace it.
Is this the norm or are there better programs that can do this function.
Can they also be used to do 3D objects?

/Michael

[jderou]

When I do this using Bobcad, I make a rectangle that is the edge of the board, put the text on the board (the outline of the text is made up of vectors). I then initiate the pocket command and select the rectangle as the pocket, then select the text as 'islands' and it does the rest.
Not sure if any other programs work similarly.
Here is a sample of what it does.

[mikie]

That sounds so easy.
I'll have to look into bobcad and see how expensive it is

thanks
Michael

[ger21]

Try downloading Elefont, http://www.armanisoft.ch/webdesign/elefont/Elefont.html
and MeshCAM, http://www.grzsoftware.

You'll need to bring the Elefont .dxf into TurboCAD and explode it before it will work with MeshCAM, but it should work.

[dcarr]

VS3D can do it as well.

1. Sculpt the text using any true-type font. Plateau, bulge, and/or chisel it to the desired height.

2. Choose the cutting bit geometry and existing material height.

3. Run a "Contour XY" tool path to pocket out around the letters.

VS3D will show you the path like this:
http://www.designscomputed.com/files/test_carve_1.jpg

And then you will see what the material will actually look like after the tool path is run:
http://www.designscomputed.com/files/test_carve_2.jpg

From this, you can see that the step-over spacing would need to be a bit smaller to clean up all the ridges left by the ball-end cutter.

[mikie]

Thaks Daniel for your post.
I will look through the links you supplied

/mikie