Sharp inside corners on pocket text

[banderson]

:)OK. I have created some text and pocketed around the letters but how do I get sharp inside corners. Is the only option to use smaller and smaller endmills? or is there some kind of expert trick?

[zeykr]

I'd use a flat bottom vcarve toolpath in most instances.

[banderson]

Do you mean a flat bottom end mill with a vcarve toolpath?

[zeykr]

Use a vbit and a flat bottom end mill. Select a vcarve toolpath, use a sharp v bit - I like 60deg but depends on what you are carving, and then set a vcarve depth (like .15 or .2) and select an endmill to do the pocketing. The vbit will carve wherever the endmill won't fit and will lift in the corners. You'll have a bevel on the edge of your letters though - using different angle vbits you can control how much of a bevel there is.

The bevel can make small letters stronger and less likely to chipout also.

[banderson]

wow, that is awsome. I never thought of that. Thanks a bunch.

[Chuck Keysor]

Thanks Ken! I have done a lot of V-carving, and I had never played with, or even thought about what the "flat area clearance tool" selection did in the V-carve toolpath application. Thanks to your post, I said, wow, that is cool! And I have played with it in simulation mode to set it into my memory.

Again thanks for posting on this!!! Chuck