Creating a Boolean difference with "subtract" mode models

[mrmfwilson]

I wasn't sure what to title this but I have been trying to create more of my designs with models rather than importing STL models. A problem I ran into is that a model set to "subtract" combine mode will only act as an "add" combine mode when combined with another model set to the "subtract" mode. I was using a dome model in the subtract mode to create a dish. I wanted to make round subtractive cuts to the sides of the dish. I could not use another model in the subtract mode to achieve a Boolean difference. It would only add to the dish model. I discovered that if I made the "level" that contained the models a "subtract" mode then I could use the merge mode on the individual models to achieve a Boolean difference. This may be obvious to some of you that have been using modeling for a while. I'm fairly new to using the models in VCarve Pro. I thought that this might be helpful to those new to using the VCarve models. Unfortunately I can't attach the file as it is too large. Will there ever be an increase in file size uploads? The files with models are almost always too big. I have attached a screen shot to help explain.

[Bobtail Farm]

Not responsive to the main question: as to file size and uploads, I have seen others zip the file or provide a link to cloud-based download locations.

guessing (without the file) what the precise challenge is: when working with components, (click on modeling tab) to see and arrange the priority (ordering) - that at least for me, affects the (boolean) combination.

Thanks.

[mrmfwilson]

I forget about google drive. Just don't use it much. Here's the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/118QUUz ... sp=sharing

I knew this was going to be hard for me to explain. It's not a matter of order. It is how the layer combine mode is set. I tried using the models in the subtract mode and the layer in merge mode. Because a model in the subtract mode will only add to another model in the subtract mode no matter what you set the layer combine mode to it did not work. To get one of the models to subtract from the other and for them to both be in the subtract mode, I changed the layer mode to subtract so every model added on that layer will be in subtract mode. Then I set the models to merge mode. They merged and one subtracted from the other. I created a Boolean difference of two concave objects that were created from convex objects. There may be other ways of accomplishing this but this is what I did and it turned out to be pretty simple to do once I understood the hierarchy of the layer combine modes to the model combine modes. In Aspire this would have been easy. You could also do the same thing with the molding toolpath. I thought it was interesting to show what can be done with simple models in VCarve Pro.

[mtylerfl]

Thank you for your detailed explanation.

(Note to readers: Swap the word “layer” to say “Level”)

[Bobtail Farm]

Thanks for your clarification. Regret I generally rely on the boolean tools of one of the open source programs to create such models and import the result into VCP. VCP and Aspire may handle what you describe, but I have not used VCP for that.