Hi everyone, Im trying to cut some lettering out of a bent sheet metal fascia so some vacuum formed acrylic lettering can go in from behind. The plastic letters will be formed with the same curved face, and I need to get the correct cut DXF for the front metal fascia so it fits over the letters correctly when its bent to match the curved face of the plastic.

Im trying to create the cut out for the letters, and am having trouble with the Cut-Extrude being a Normal Cut. I dont want to cut all the way through the sheet metal, as i want to be able to flatten it and get the entire shape for a cutting DXF, so im using offset from surface. When i do that the insides of the letters dont remain like they should. If i cut all the way through it, it doesn't flatten correctly. Also if i select Normal Cut, the internal islands of the letter shapes dont remain either.

Can anyone help with this?

Thanks

Alex