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aah, op here. So right now I've only got the 100 or so keyboard ascii chars. The reason is that there is no software api for v-carve lettering. I've had to writ
by Jack000 12y ago
aah, op here. So right now I've only got the 100 or so keyboard ascii chars. The reason is that there is no software api for v-carve lettering. I've had to write a script that's basically a point-and click windows macro for each possible character, then compile the whole text with appropriate kerning. The process already takes several hours for each font, plus hand-corrections for any vector problems with the export.
At a lower level this type of v-bit carving is much more difficult compared to 2d operations like pcb trace milling. There are various tricks (http://s485.photobucket.com/user/defaultname000/media/butterfly.gif.html?sort=3&o=19 http://s485.photobucket.com/user/defaultname000/media/butter...) you can use for computing vector offsets of arbitrary paths, but for v-carving you need to get the medial axis as well.
There is an another limitation - any individual stroke wider than about .09" requires 2 passes to cover, which is not ideal since I'm basically selling machine time. Adding arbitrary symbols would likely increase my cost.
edit: I've gotten the center comment from a few people, I'll see about changing that