How does the Quick Engrave toolpath work in VCarve Pro & Aspire for diamond drag and conventional engraving?

Overview

Quick Engrave is designed for engraving and marking text, logos, and decorative patterns using either conventional engraving cutters (rotating) or diamond drag marking tools (non-rotating, spring-loaded). It handles the unique requirements of both tool types. This is the right toolpath for marking metal plaques, trophies, acrylic gifts, and any application where a shallow, fine-line engraved or scratched surface mark is needed. It is available in both VCarve Pro and Aspire.

Two Tool Types

Conventional Engraving / End Mill

A rotating engraving tool or end mill cuts to a specified depth.

• Depth is the depth to engrave or mark. This Z depth is output in the toolpath file, and the 3D preview shows the specified depth
• The spindle runs at normal speed
• Suited to wood, MDF, and acrylic with a rotating cutter

Diamond Drag (Marking Tool)

A spring-loaded diamond tip scratches the surface without cutting. Check your machine and tool maker's instructions for spindle setup before running: a drag tool is normally run with the spindle off.

Pressure Setting: Instead of a depth, the Pressure setting pre-loads the spring so the tip of the diamond stays in contact with the material surface, which matters especially when marking uneven surfaces.

Z0 setup (shop practice): Zero the Z axis with the diamond tip touching the material surface without compressing the spring, then set the Pressure value to how much you want to pre-compress the spring during the run.

Preview depth: The 3D preview shows a depth calculated from the diamond angle and the Line Width. For a 90° tip the depth shown is half the line width (for example a 0.010" line width shows 0.005" depth). The ratio changes for tips with different angles. This is a preview only. The actual marking is controlled by the spring pressure.

Spindle off: Most controllers handle this with a tool-specific RPM of 0 in the tool database or a custom post-processor that suppresses the spindle start command. Check what your machine setup needs.

Fill Options

Outline

The tip of the cutter runs along the selected lines, engraving or marking the material surface (single stroke engraving). Fast, minimal cuts.

Fill

A pattern is used to engrave or mark inside the selected text or vectors. The form offers 3 fill pattern options, so pick the one that suits the look you want.

Stepover: The Quick Engrave form has its own Stepover field. It is not automatically taken from the Tool Database, so set it on the form.

Nose Cone Option

A nose cone is a spring-loaded sleeve that slides along the material surface. It is often used for material that is not flat. The engraving cutter is set to protrude from the bottom of the nose cone by the depth of engraving required, typically about 0.010" to 0.020".

When Use Nose Cone is checked, the depth specified on the form is the actual depth used for the 3D preview.

Number of Passes

Runs the cutter multiple times, dividing the work over the toolpath pattern. This can help with deeper engraving using shallow-depth tools, or with reinforcing diamond drag marks.

Notes

• The Quick Engraving form has no Start Depth field. For engraving or V-carving into the bottom of a pocket, use the V-Carve / Engraving toolpath, whose Start Depth can be set to the pocket depth
• The Quick Engraving form includes an Immediate Output section that saves or sends the most recently calculated toolpath directly from the form