A lot of times I make raised letters with shaped tops with the "create shape from vectors" function in Aspire.
Since I generally have any number of 3d elements, I toolpath using "create 3d roughing toolpath" then clean up with "create finishing toolpath".
That process generally leaves the bases of the letters a little choppy and I'd like to create a toolpath to run around the letters and clean them up pretty.
I can't for the life of me figure out how to do this without creating a pocket toolpath that wants to go over the entire area (as it should). It's an excruciatingly long process and it's not going to work out in the long run.
Can someone suggest a strategy to do what I want?
Could I possibly use a profile toolpath and set my depth to the base of the letters and work the outside of the vector, or would that run into other vectors that were close? (Sorry for trying to answer my own question, that just occurred to me as I was typing and I haven't tried it.)
I should mention that I do all this with descending sizes of ballnose bits.
Thank You!!!