I spent about twelve hours creating this file in Corel DRAW X3, and exported as a HPGL Plot file. I originally created the file, using the Arial font, and attempted to engrave the Degree Wheel for a rotary axis project that I am building. But discovered that all fonts are exported as outlines of the font characters when importing into LazyCAM. Obviously, for an engraving this small, the characters are rendered unreadable once engraved with the outlines. So, I then spent MANY hours searching the web for single-line, or stick fonts which could be used for this purpose. NOT! So, then I spent the next twelve hours in Corel DRAW X3 painstakingly recreating the Arial font as a grouped series of lines, and arcs of each character in the font in order to achieve the desired results.
They still do not function as fonts, so must be placed with standard typesetting conventions to be usable.  However, it occurred to me that others may find this useful.  I have included the LCAM file, (after several attempts at sending a ZIP file, PLT file, and TAP file, and receiving the "An Error has occured -files of this type are not allowed" message.  Enjoy! -Mike (Adprinter)

adprinter,
Thanks for posting the file. You can buy fonts but like you i have made my owne out of archs and lines.
They engrave much faster and look better.
RICH

Rich,
So how many hours did you spend creating your own?
Also what software did you use for this purpose?
 I have completed the Arial font, (upper and lower case letters, and numerals) but am still working on creating the symbols. I did not think that the symbols would be needed for most purposes, until I gave it a test drive with my name and address. (NO comma!). I actually had formal typesetting training many years ago, and have learned first hand, the importance of "Font Widths".
 It is FAR from being a word processor, but using the Grid and Ruler setup, and Snap functions in Corel DRAW X3 produces some usable results in character placement. And they really do turn out beautiful on the router!

Very nice work Mike.
Maybe post a pic of the finished wheel ?
Thanks,
Russ

Not trying to steal anyone's thunder, but the attached was created in about 5 minutes using D2NC (for the wheel itself).

D2NC code was dragged into Mach3, exported into LazyCam, and the text added using the LC text drag function.  It is not as pretty as adprinters, but probably much quicker than making individual letters.  The font chosen in LC was Proxy1.  The trick here is going to be learning how to drag the text so the sizes are the same.  I think with a little practice it will get easier.

Bob@BobsShop

 adprinter,

I do use generic fonts which are made up of straight lines. And yes they engrave nicely.
So i would generate a DXF file out of AutoCAD or Microstation and use them. I do make sure all is drawn correctly.
That is easy and dosn't take long at to do at all.

Now here is an example for you, sorry i don't have a picture. A shop wanted custom plates made ( about 30 )  that
would be be attached to motorcyle engines. He wanted raised / cut out letters and the plate dimension was restricted.
So you need to see what will fit and adjust the text for the end mill that would be used. So from a artistic point of view
, the "color" ( how the blackness of the lettering to the whiteness  / tone  is related to a visual look of the piece), needed
to be right requiring shaping the letters to be visualy correct along with say being able to cut it out.
 An example  would be the letter "O" which if cut  perfect in heigth to the other letters would look "big" when your done and
 looks like hell to my eyes. So you change spacing so the cuttter can machine out the letter but then you also play with the letter
shape and look at it overall to see if the color is right.   So probably 5 hours later i had the design done.

I did something similar to what you did for the degree wheel. Only mine  was very small. Now for the numbers, The "0"
is an ellipse and is done in a single cut, such that you only have a common entry and exit point which makes for nice engraving.
Additioinaly the Gcode is minimized and total engraving time is reduced greatly. The same goes for QRUOPSDGCB26890.

I only ever did one font set. I don't remember how long it took to be frank. But wasn't no 1 hour but a lot less than the time you spent.
For what i do it's usualy custom letters and there is no font which seems to fit the bill. In fact to be original i create my owne font at times.
Some of the font that programs create along a line or curve or even a around a circle leaves something to be desired, but, like all things,  
I'm just an amateur with an opinion!

Not being the most artistic person I was lucky to have a few top notch artists and some darn good engravers to give me some advice.
The guys at Remington Arms were fantastic.

RICH

Hi Mike,

I took a different route for my, much smaller, scale and used the demo version of 'Front Designer'. This produced two files - one for the engraving and one for the profile cutting - It is pretty easy to use and contains the necessary single line font etc. The down side is that it is a time limited trial software but it works well and is quick.

Tweakie.

Here is a DXF of the single line font I tend to use :-

Graham

Thanks for the dxf Graham, as the letters contain arcs which is good.
RICH

Rich, thanks for the single line fonts.  I was bragging much too quickly about how easy it would be to drag the numerals from LZCam onto a degree wheel.  It is doable, but scaling the fonts to one size was a daunting task.  Would be much easier to do with something like you have.  That, plus the fact that the letter fonts in Proxy are really dorky.

Bob@BobsShop