Font for inside and outside CNCing: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 20:21, 2022 November 3

Projects

Project:	Font for inside and outside CNCing (I)
Description:	Font with minimum size for routing with a rotary bit.
Skillset(s) :	Graphic Design
Project Type(s) :	Personal Project

I needed a font for projects like Integrity Joint that would allow routing both the letters and the surroundings in the smallest size possible for a given cutter. The limit is that the cutter has to fit both the insides (black part) of the letters, but also the outsides and islands of the letters. I could not find a font that is optimized for this, so I created a set of vector letters. You can download them at Media:CNC_alphabet.svg and use them, but please link back here if applicable.

How we did it

The size of the letters is limited by having to fit the bit into each line and each island. So, a letter like "B" is the worst case scenario: it has three horizontal lines and two islands, so must be at least 5x the bit size and a tiny bit more. I started by creating the worst case letters and then added the others to look similar.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Project}}
+{{Project
-Need to figure out how to get a font (or other shape) to CNC properly inside and out to fit into itself, i.e. method to know that shape has no radius smaller than the bit.
+|shortDescription=Font with minimum size for routing with a rotary bit.
+|longDescription=I needed a font for projects like [[Integrity Joint]] that would allow routing both the letters and the surroundings in the smallest size possible for a given cutter. The limit is that the cutter has to fit both the insides (black part) of the letters, but also the outsides and islands of the letters. I could not find a font that is optimized for this, so I created a set of vector letters. You can download them at [[Media:CNC_alphabet.svg]] and use them, but please link back here if applicable.
-[[File:CNC Integrity.png]]
+|geekery=The size of the letters is limited by having to fit the bit into each line and each island. So, a letter like "B" is the worst case scenario: it has three horizontal lines and two islands, so must be at least 5x the bit size and a tiny bit more. I started by creating the worst case letters and then added the others to look similar.
-==Workflow==
+|skillSet=Graphic Design
-* make line text (find better text maker?)
+|projectType=Personal Project
-** Extensions, render, hershey text
+|northForge=Yes
-** tweak shapes
+}}
-* stroke style
-** line thickness = bit * 2.1 (2 to be exact, add .1 to have some space)
-** use rounded joins and caps
-* scale/tweak so there are gaps where need to be
-* stroke to path
-* fill none, stroke yes
-* new path strokestyle, round join and cap, width of bit
-* fix distances of letters
-* redo stroke to path
-* break apart, delete, recombine as necessary
-* fix/tweak
-{{TD computer|}} needs better write-up...
-[[Category:Personal Project]]
-[[Category:How to‏‎]]
-[[Category:Graphic Design]]
-[[Category:CNC Machining]]