Found a 100x50 lexan stock.
Made design in Inkscape. Setting letter stroke width is a good way to visualize cutter radius.
Tried importing svg or dxf into MeshCAM. Only got the outside border shape, no text. seems it’s challenging. Engraving using meshcam? - #12 by timtom1 - Carbide 3D Community Site
Using FlatCAM.
didn’t have pyqt4 installed anymore somehow
Tried upgrading to flatcam 8.9 beta - but now got an error
OSError: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1: version `ZLIB_1.2.9' not found (required by /home/arthurdent/Programs/miniconda/lib/././libpng16.so.16)
went back to the existing flatcam install, conda deactivate - started right up. but can’t open SVG, error
File "/home/arthurdent/Programs/flatcam/svgparse.py", line 483, in parse_svg_transform
float(match.group(2)) if match.group else float(match.group(1))
tried various versions of FlatCAM, different SVGs; couldn’t import any of them. tried going through KiCAD to Gerber, but the SVG import didn’t work.
Figured it out. used ~/Programs/flatcam/ (FlatCAM 8.5). Needed to first, in inkscape, ungroup all and then convert to path. Then svg import worked.
Next, the font was rendered very strangely on import into flatcam, not enough resolution. Used Scale x 10x in Document Properties and then a scale 0.1x step and that worked.
Screwed 1/8" mm lexan down on four corners. Removed top protective layer. Chose a 0.1 mm stepdown, but had about 0.05 mm non-flatness across the surface so some variation. Worked pretty well! 1000 mm/min feed and 15000 rpm speed. Travel of +0.5 mm. V-bit cutter. Misted the surface with plain water before cutting.
Cut out the border by exporting another blank border, through FlatCAM, then a multi-depth cut, 0.1 mm at a time, 1/16" tool dia. 1200 mm/min, 10000 rpm. Again, misted with water, used a screwdriver to clear the slot.