2D Designs: Creating Fillets

Brad Castle

03 April 2025 14:05

Carveco Tutorial: Filleting Vectors

Filleting is the process of adding a radius to sharp corners in your vector design. In Carveco, the Fillet Tool gives you several options to quickly create radiused corners, dog-bones, T-bones, or laser-friendly arcs—essential for clean designs and CNC compatibility.

🔹 Step 1: Using the Fillet Tool

Click on Fillet Vectors from the left-hand toolbar.
Set your desired fillet radius (e.g., 0.25 inches).
Zoom into a corner, then click two intersecting lines—Carveco will round the corner with the specified radius.

🔹 Step 2: Fillet Types

You can choose from several fillet styles:

Standard Arc – Adds a smooth rounded corner using the specified radius.
Dog-Bone Fillet – Cuts a small circle at the corner, used for internal clearance where parts must fit together.
T-Bone Fillet – Adds a horizontal or vertical cut at the corner, ideal for making inside corners machinable with a round tool.
External Arc – Creates a rounded loop beyond the corner, used for drag knives or lasers to prevent slowdown.

🔹 Step 3: When to Use Dog-Bone & T-Bone Fillets

Use Dog-Bone Fillets when a part with square corners needs to fit into an interior pocket made with a round bit.
Use T-Bone Fillets to allow machining clearance in one direction (vertical or horizontal).
Be cautious: dog-bones and t-bones may be visible on the finished part if they extend outside the design.

🔹 Step 4: T-Bone Fillet Orientation

Carveco lets you control the direction of the T-Bone:
- Select two lines and it will apply a T-bone based on their orientation.
- If you select lines in the opposite order, the direction of the fillet may flip.

🔹 Step 5: Using External Arcs (For Knives & Lasers)

External Arc creates a smooth curve that loops out and back in around corners.
This keeps the machine moving at a constant speed and allows drag knives or lasers to turn without pausing or stopping.

Whether you're improving fit, adding aesthetic touches, or optimizing for machining, the Fillet Tool is a powerful part of your vector-editing toolkit in Carveco.