How to Make Small Letters for Spoiler Board

[gene35146]

I am cutting a new spoiler board and putting 20mm  bench dogs in it. I want to put the text letters 20mm just above it maybe .2 inches high.  I have not machined text before. I thought it was simple as using a v carve bit and the text. I tried the True Type fonts and Single point font but instead of something that looks like other pictures I get a big cut blog. I have tried changing the depth but that doesnt seem to work and the Engraving toolpath. So I am doing some fundamentally wrong but not sure what it is?

[germanguitars]

For mine I modeled the letters and did a pocketing cut with a 0.025" bit. I don't know what text options Vcarve gives you, but if you can import the letters from Adobe Illustrator you might be better off...

[gene35146]

So you just used a very small end mill and then a normal pocket toolpath if I understand it correctly? I am trying to mimic the picture you posted of your spoiler board? I have a .0625 ball nose bit and some tiny end mills I could use.

[gene35146]

Okay I got good results with this.

Text Gothic 1L at .2 inches high profile toolpath at .05 deep using .0325 end mill

[Deleted]

If you want to do small characters inset into something then V-Carve is a good option. You can use any font but keep in mind that you don't have as much control over the depth of cut because for small letters because the width of the stroke of the "pen" is done using the width of the bit. That means that a 30 degree bit will carve deeper than a 60 which in turn would carve deeper than a 90 degree bit to get the same width. You also have to watch some bits (like the Amana 45700) because they have a thick web between the flutes that will create a flat bottom. That's why I prefer the Amana RCK-380 and RCK-390 for V-carving. You can also get creative and use tapered ball end mills for some interesting effects. There are some good videos on the Vectric site about different kinds of text carving that can give you some pointers.

[unclejohnaudio]

I used the Amana RC-1045 v-bit to make the lettering on my AR8 table and to give me some alignment lines.  I dont have the crv files at work, but I can add them later if someone wants them.  This bit has made really clean text for me like this.

Attachments:

[gene35146]

Can you post the font you selected, the height of the letters, and the start and end depth you used in your tool path?

[unclejohnaudio]

Font Type: Single line; Helvetica 1l
Font height: .1875"
Start Depth: 0.0
Depth: .03"

I have uploaded the actual v-carve file I used too.

Attachments:

Spoilboard Setup V2.crv (92 KB)