I guess I should preface that with an “I’m not going to go through the trouble of figuring this all out.” My blocks are going to be 1 3/4" cubed. That is about the limit of the material thickness with crumb tray removed. So I would only be able to engrave after they are assembled to get a consistent chamfer on each edge. Then I’d have to do each block six times. Possibly with a jig I could do multiples in one operation.
There was this topic from way back and a few others addressing bevels, so I’ve just about convinced myself that it was not worth pursuing.
The 3D functionality might make this all pretty easy design and UI wise, but at the moment I do not have that functionality with ease. I’m still figuring out the variable depth engraving with the 256 gradients and while some of the weaves look promising, I’m not going to spend too much design time figuring it out. I have so many other design challenges.
I looked at Mathias Wandel’s stuff and couldn’t find anything specific in his test videos other than that finger joints are pretty strong. That is a good question. When is it aesthetic and when is it practical and how to balance them. I’ve been thinking about this today and engraving rabbets on the edges of a lid and the mating sides would allow for a full surface unbroken by joints on the top. The rabbet and a good glue would be enough for most small boxes.