Taking a look at the file, this one looks like a different thing, maybe good, maybe bad, depending on how you want it to all come out.
The ones you're seeing are VCarve's attempt to "dress" a sharp corner. By bringing the bit from the bottom upward along the apex of the angle, it can create a more accurate "faceted" bevels. It might look better with a smooth bevel, so I'll see if that changes things..yup. Got rid of those extraneous lifts.
What I did was use the "Fit curves to vectors" command (circular arcs, 0.01" tolerance, no sharp corners, yes replace), with the Keep Sharp corners turned off. Note that you don't have to do this will **all** the vectors, just the ones that are causing those corner gouges. I did this to the entire design, and it gently smoothed out the top of the head, and the toolpath doesn't show those corner lifts. The two images below show how that affected the toolpath. And yeah, I agree the simulator is a bit optimistic about quality
.Regards,
Thom
Statistics: Posted by Rando — Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:06 pm
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For the smaller lettering, a 30- or 45-degree bit might help you get cleaner, deep letters. And of course, the size of the very tip of the bit also determines the smallest feature size. When the letters look rough, it might also be a dull bit. Sharp bits cut better, but wood is a stringy stuff, so some little bit on the top of a v-carving is pretty normal to some extent. A light sanding is usually easier than a third, or fourth pass to clean up the last little bits.
One thing I'm curious about are the indentations at the inflection points along the longer curves, like at the top of the cat. This is usually the result of out-of-order vectors in a very small space. If you're using the Vectric software, you can use node-editing mode and then zoom way in, and you'll see paths like this:
That can be a pain to find and fix if there are a lot of them. OTOH, it could be an intentional part of the design
.
Regards,
Thom
Thom,One thing I'm curious about are the indentations at the inflection points along the longer curves, like at the top of the cat. This is usually the result of out-of-order vectors in a very small space. If you're using the Vectric software, you can use node-editing mode and then zoom way in, and you'll see paths like this:
That can be a pain to find and fix if there are a lot of them. OTOH, it could be an intentional part of the design
.Regards,
Thom
Thanks for the advice. I attached the file with the tool paths and it looks like the bit is actually moving in a line towards the outside outline instead of cutting in a fluid motions. Would the node editing fix that?
Don
Statistics: Posted by dvaskie127 — Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:39 am
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One thing I'm curious about are the indentations at the inflection points along the longer curves, like at the top of the cat. This is usually the result of out-of-order vectors in a very small space. If you're using the Vectric software, you can use node-editing mode and then zoom way in, and you'll see paths like this:
.Regards,
Thom
Statistics: Posted by Rando — Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:07 pm
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Statistics: Posted by dvaskie127 — Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:58 am
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