I have only been using my CNC for a couple of months and am using Easel Pro. I have had no problem cutting through material to create a design, a disk or a hole with either a 1/8” or 1/4” bit using an image from the library or traced from a Jpg. The cut line appears to take on the width of the bit diameter. I can cut on the line, inside or outside the line and the cut path is the bit diameter. However I have traced the Jpg of a cold air register that has numerous odd shaped holes and slots to let the air through. The only path selection that will cut the holes is on the line. The 1/8” bit will make repeated passes until it is through the material and then go back and make another set of passes about 1/4 of the bit diameter randomly either inside or outside the first pass. This changes the thickness of the ribs between the holes and doubles the carving time. What am I doing wrong? Any ideas would be much appreciated!
this sounds like the image trace was of a line and drawing, and what easel wants is a silhouette style design, using black and white for positive and negative of the design.
Tracing a Line type schematic will generate 2 vectors one on the inside of the line and another on the outside…
if you select the element, and press E to edit the nodes and scroll waaaay in you will notice that there are 2 lines, 2 vectors, side by side… you can either change the design to use filled shapes and then trace that, or you can manually delete nodes to delete the unwanted side of the lines. OR you can use the Shape exploder tool (its’ in the tools found by clicking the lego button) to split the design up and then delete the unwanted shapes as whole shapes… and setting the resulting shapes to inside/outside the path as desired…
Thanks for the solutions you have provided Seth - I will give them a try and see what works best for my project.
Thanks again for the solutions you provided Seth! The only one I haven’t mastered yet is the Shape exploder. The other three have all worked very well for me and open up a wide range of design possibilities. Overcoming the challenges is part of the enjoyment of learning how to use the CNC.
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