Engraving and text in Solidworks model

[overkill04]

What is the best way to model engravings and text in Solidworks to export to Gibbscam to be cnc cut.

Should the lines be modelled as thin features or as the thickness of the cutter? What type of text is good for cnc export?

Thanks for any help.

[Cammotion]

Originally Posted by overkill04 What is the best way to model engravings and text in Solidworks to export to Gibbscam to be cnc cut. Should the lines be modelled as thin features or as the thickness of the cutter? What type of text is good for cnc export? Thanks for any help.

Not sure as to your situation, i.e., text on a flat surface, or on a 3d surface, is the engraving part of the model, (logo) or is it a serial number or something like that?

I may not model the text with Solidworks at all, but rather do it with the cam program. Not sure about the capabilities of Gibbs, I used Surfcam for this stuff, and now use U.G.

For 2D I.D. purposes, I generally use stick letters and select those to be milled on the lines with a small diameter ball endmill, like 1/16 or 1/32, and about .003-.005" deep. For 3D, I would do a flat toolpath on the letters with no depth, then project that path onto the surface.

In the case of fonts, most cam packages have whatever's in the Windows font library available, and can be pocketed either 2D, or projected onto the surface as above.

Oftentimes I get parts with fancy text extruded into the part by the engineers (not machinists! ) and I'll just overlay stick letters over their letters and cut those to avoid the unnecessarily time consuming machining of pockets with tiny endmills. Sorry for the long winded diatribe, but I don't know what your situation calls for, so I just threw some stuff out there. Hope it helps!

[cadman]

Pretty much what Bill said. Use the Gibb's Moorpark font (not the same as Windows Moorpark) if you are just looking for single line font thats machining friendly. If you need fancy double line font then use whatever fits your requirements in SolidWorks and do an extrude cut.

Be aware that if you use anything other than single line font and you have to pocket between those lines you will be limited in your cutter selection if the font size is small. Just about all of those fonts have square corners and lines that terminate into points. If you just need the lines then a 60 deg engraving cutter will work fine.

For the record, I do create my text and do an extrude cut in SolidWorks, but the only reason is for design approval of my fixtures and tooling. In Gibbs I use Moorpark and the engraving on the imported model is just for reference purposes.

[overkill04]

Thanks for the fast and very detailed response guys.

I attached an image to show exactly what I'm trying to talk about. In hindsight that probably should have been my first idea.

Not sure if this will alter your advice.

[Cammotion]

Overkill04,

You could model the grid lines and numbers in with Solidworks so that you get accurate placement (if that's a concern). For that matter, you could put the lines where you want them with GibbsCam too I suppose.

When I would open a model like yours in Surfcam, it came in with wire frame and surfaces, meaning that the grid lines and numbers would have 3D wire frame too. What I would do, say in the case of the grid lines, would be to draw vertical and horizontal single lines from the center points of the arcs at the end of the grooves and just toolpath the single lines with the appropriate sized ball endmill to avoid having to get too complicated with cutter compensation. Likewise, create single line text for the numbers and do the same.

[overkill04]

I think I'll leave that to the machinist as I'm one of those designers who doesn't like getting metal shavings in my shoes.

Thanks for the help!