I’ve been working with Easel, to see how it works.
Seems pretty straightforward.
Here I’m trying to design a 1 1/8 " disc with a shift pattern engraved in it. Using a 1/32 milling bit, the characters are as smalll as I am able to make them. Smaller would be nice, but if the xCarve outputs the way the software does it should be ok.
Will Xcarve create output like Easel shows?
Why doesn’t the “6” look finished?
Can text be made smaller or is this it?
The “6” does not look finished most likely because Easel has calculated that the bit cannot fit through the constrained path. That portion is thus not being carved away. Hit the “Simulate” button, hide the material, and look at the generated toolpath. There will most likely be a gap where the material is still being shown in your image.
To make small pieces that have small text you will want to V-Carve it. This is something that you can do with Easel Pro. You can either purchase a subscription or use one of your “4 Free Days/ Month” if you purchased a machine from Inventables.
You will need V-Bits … 60-Degree & 90-Degree V-Bits come in handy all the time.
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Brandon Parker
Good to know Brandon.
What I want to do, eventually, is make these discs and the then fill the engraving with contrasting-colored material like dyed epoxy. So the engraving will have to be relativly deep.
I would say that a disc that’s 1/4" thick would need to be engraved about 5/16" deep.
I must be misunderstanding if your material is 1/4" thick and you engraved it 5/16" deep you would be going clear thru an additional 1/16"? If you are only wanting to go thru the material and you are using a 1/32" bit i would think 1/4" would be good unless i am missing something. Using a 1/32" bit is slow and dangerous work to start with. They are super fragile.
I agree with Wayne. Epoxy should not require deep carves.
Also 1/8th inch 30 degree v bits can give great detail using small text.
That bit is not listed in Easel but can be entered as other.
I typically do 2mm depth carves (V-bit) for my epoxy infills, this is usually sufficient. If a deeper/fully saturated colour might be better (3mm is close to 1/8")
