V-Carve Text

Exact V-groove depth maps from any font.

A V bit is a cone, so the depth anywhere inside a letter is fixed by how far that point sits from the nearest edge of the stroke. That makes V-carving pure geometry — no AI, no credits, no misspelled names, and the same settings always produce the same file.

Operating Steps

Step 1: Type and Choose a Font

Enter your text, one line per row. The picker groups all 36 faces by measured stroke ratio, heaviest first, because depth is a function of stroke width. The readout shows what your typical stroke actually reaches at the current cap size.

Step 2: Set the Bit Angle

Narrower bits cut deeper for the same stroke: a 2 mm stroke reaches 1 mm on a 90 degree bit and 1.73 mm on a 60 degree bit. Choose 30, 60, 90 or 120 degrees to match the tool in your spindle.

Step 3: Set the Depth Budget

Max depth caps the cut at what your machine and material allow. Strokes wider than that budget cut flat-bottomed with true V walls, and the Flat-bottomed readout tells you what percentage of the ink did. Leave it at 0 for unlimited.

Step 4: Export and Set Z

Download a true 16-bit grayscale PNG plus a settings card. Set your LightBurn 3D slice max depth to the Black depth value shown. The PNG carries its scale in a pHYs chunk so it imports at real millimetre size.

Step 5: Batch a Run

Paste a name list or CSV column to get one depth map per name in a ZIP, up to 300 per run. Keep Z scale on Fixed so every item shares one machine setting.

Tactical Tip

If most of your carve reports as flat-bottomed, you have lost the V shape entirely — the strokes want far more depth than your budget allows. Use a narrower bit angle, a lighter font, or a smaller cap size for a true V.

Open V-Carve Text Tool Workspace