[Matt Clara]

Right from the start I wanted to do this as a series of profiles and pockets, but the more I looked at it (the frame area, particularly), the more confused I got as to how I would do that. Eventually I just extruded the vectors, capped them and turned it into a 3D model, which I cut at about 16 x 13 inches. I used three different sized bits, from 1/8" for roughing to 1/32" for a second finish pass, but the G code has the machine acting like a sewing machine, bobbing up and down as it moves across the image, and the end result was rough. Not terrible, but not professional looking, either. I think that sweeping cuts along the vectors would solve this, but I need advice on how to set it up. Particuarly the frame area, where the vectors are all closed and fairly close together, but not uniformly so, and I need to carve out the area between the vectors (outside the individual vectors), and not within them, leaving those areas raised. Because they aren't uniformly spaced, I can't just tell the router to profile around each one as it won't get everything. Any thoughts on this?

[ger21]

Draw another vector around everything and pocket that vector, with all the detail vectors as islands.

[Matt Clara]

Thanks Gerry. Having played around with that, it looks like I either need to scale it up and cut it out of a larger panel, or get some really tiny bits!