V-Carve Engraving

The V-Carve feature type is generally used to engrave text, arcs, lines and splines in a 3-dimensional form with 3 axis tool motion, with pocketing of open spaces in the selected profiles if necessary. There are two V-Carve operation types, Tapered Pocketing and V-Carve Finishing (engraving). This example uses the V-Carve Finishing operation.

 

Engraving a True Type font with V-Carve example:

 

1. In the Text group, of the Create 2D ribbon, click Text.
   
   
2. In the Data Entry Manager:
   
   
   1. The Windows Font button should be selected by default.
   2. In the Fontbox, click the down arrow, scroll down, and select Book Antiqua.
   3. Click anywhere In the Textbox (the blank white box under the font), and type BobCAD-CAM.
   4. Change the Heightvalue to 2.000.
   5. At the bottom of the Base Point group select Center from the drop down list.
   6. ClickOK.
   7. Click Cancel.
      
      The text is created at X0 Y0 Z0 in the graphics area.(Click anywhere in the graphics area and press Fto activate the Fit All command, which is also found in the document toolbar.)
      
      
      

 

5. In the CAM Tree, right-click CAM Defaults,and click New Job.
   
   
6. With the Milling job type and the BC 3X Mill machine selected, click Stock Wizard.
   
   
7. Click the (next)button to skip the workpiece assignment.
   
   
8. With Rectangular selected, the software automatically creates a bounding stock for the text in the graphics area.
   
   In the Dimension / Offset group, add 1.000 to the Offset + and Offset - fields under X and Y.
   
   This offsets the edge of the stock from our text.
   
   
9. Click to go to the Machine Setup.
   
   
10. For this example, we use the default settings, but click the Work Offset button. Next to Z, change the value to 1.000 and click OK.
    
    
11. Click OK to finish the Machine Setup.
    
    
12. In the CAM Tree, right-click Machine Setup, and click Mill V-Carve.
    
    
13. In the Mill V-Carve Wizard, click the Select Geometry button.
    
    
14. Click to select the text in the graphics area and click OK to confirm the selection and return to the wizard.
    
    
15. Click Next>> to go to the Feature page.
    
    

16. Note the Total Depth value. Setting the Total Depth value here sets the Pocket Depth value for the Tapered Pocketing operation (and the for the Finishing operation when using a V-Tool to pocket.) For this example, changing the depth does not change the toolpath calculation. For more information view the V-Carve Operation topic.)
    
    

17. Click Next>> to go to the Machining Strategy. Notice under Current Operations, a single V-Carve Finishing operation is already selected.
    
    

18. In the tree on the left, click V-Tool to go to the Tool page. For this example, we use the default 0.5000 inch diameter V-tool. Note the selected tool size does change the toolpath calculation for V-carve finishing operations.
    
    

19. Click Next>> to go to the Parameters. Notice under Depth Options, the V-Tool Depth of Cut parameter. This value is used to limit the depth when the width of the geometry profile is greater than the width of the tool. Again, we use the default settings for this example. For more information on specific parameters view the V-Carve Operation and the Mill Wizard topics.
    
    

20. At the bottom of the wizard, click Compute.
    
    
    
    

21. To view the toolpath simulation, right-click Milling Job and click Simulation.For more information on using simulation, view Getting Started with Simulation.
    
    

 

 

This concludes the example.