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typeface for end mill

Question asked by Dwight Livingston on Jun 15, 2007
Latest reply on Sep 5, 2007 by Dwight Livingston

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I believe this has been discussed before, but I came up empty doing various searches.

I would like to find a Truetype typeface with characters that could be cut easily using a CNC endmill. It should appear to be made of straight lines and radii, with all strokes ending with a full round.

I do not need a stroke font, which has the centerlines of the strokes. It should contain the outlines like a normal TT font but look as if it was created using a stroke font.

Thanks

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1-GU3IT0 Jun 15, 2007 1:32 PM
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"Truetype typeface" ???......"stoke font" ??

I don't understand. Are you looking for a special text font ?
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- Dwight Livingston @ 1-GU3IT0 on Jun 15, 2007 1:37 PM
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  Yeah, a font, one that I can use in SolidWorks.
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  - 1-GU3IT0 @ Dwight Livingston on Jun 15, 2007 2:00 PM
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    O.K ,
    
    When you say CNC endmill , which kind do you plan on using ? Flat , Ball , Bullnose ? How big is the text going to be ?
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    - John H @ 1-GU3IT0 on Jun 15, 2007 2:11 PM
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      How about Arial Rounded MT Bold?
      John
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      - 1-GU3IT0 @ John H on Jun 15, 2007 2:17 PM
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        Ya beat me to it John
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        John H @ 1-GU3IT0 on Jun 15, 2007 2:22 PM
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        The second mouse gets the cheese! LOL
        
        Added:
        As far as I know, most CAM packages have similar fonts that are availabe in windows. I would start by checking with your CAM package to see what style of specific lettering fonts are available. The type of font listed above matches your request and can be machined either manually or with CNC equipment without any problems.
        
        John
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Steve Hutchison Jun 15, 2007 2:22 PM
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Chris/John,

Have you had success machining this font with a CNC machine? In other words the machinist is able to use the font generated geometry directly and does not have to substitute another font?
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- 1-GU3IT0 @ Steve Hutchison on Jun 15, 2007 2:29 PM
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  Steve Hutchison wrote:
  
  Chris/John,
  
  Have you had success machining this font with a CNC machine? In other words the machinist is able to use the font generated geometry directly and does not have to substitute another font?
  
  Yes. Is the text on a 2D face ?
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Steve Hutchison Jun 15, 2007 2:42 PM
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Yes. A 2d face. Text would be engraved .01 / .02 deep

So far all of the shops I have used have requested a single stroke font for text which I do not believe truetype can provide. I am thinking this font (Arial Rounded MT Bold) is good for larger size text? Have you determined the smallest effective size that can be engraved using this font? I guess it is dependent on the endmill size and how many they are willing to break in the process.
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- 1-GU3IT0 @ Steve Hutchison on Jun 15, 2007 2:55 PM
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  Botom line..............A good machinist will figure it out no matter what the font is.
  I used to just offset the geometry of the text to the center in our CAM software. Piece-o-cake. Allthough .020" is kinda deep especially for small text. Could you post a pic of what you're trying to engrave ?
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Steve Hutchison Jun 15, 2007 3:04 PM
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No specific part. This is an issue though each time engraving is required. The only time it gets really critical is when it is for a panel where the text has to line up and maintain position in relation to hash marks and control indexes. In each case no matter which shop I use they substitute their CAM fonts and run a couple of test pieces on scrap or a thin piece of lexan to fine tune. If the engraving is filled my current shop wants .015 deep so I give them a range of .010 / .020.

I will give this font a try for my next project. Thanks for the tip.
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- Dwight Livingston @ Steve Hutchison on Jun 15, 2007 4:30 PM
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  I tried John's suggestion of Arial Rounded MT Bold and it'll do fine. It's a little fancy looking, but that's okay. What I wanted was something that would look milled in the drawing, so I can say "AS SHOWN" without getting into details. Let the machinist figure it out. As Steve says, everybody has their own CAD package and in many cases I don't care how it looks, as long as it's milled. I don't want quotes for engraving.
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  - Steve Rector @ Dwight Livingston on Sep 5, 2007 7:18 PM
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    Were you successful in machining the font via CNC?
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    - Dwight Livingston @ Steve Rector on Sep 5, 2007 7:28 PM
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      Steve Rector wrote:
      
      Were you successful in machining the font via CNC?
      
      We did some prototype parts using selective laser sintering, and that came out nicely. I'm not sure at this point how they plan to do the very low volume production version.
      
      Dwight
      
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typeface for end mill

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