Here are my findings.
As usual @Jules was spot on.
My simplistic method of adding size to the inner shape works fine for simple shapes that are enclosed, but as I expected, where the insets touch, there is too much material and they won’t nest.
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Making the enclosing shape 1/2 kerf smaller and all inner shapes 1/2 kerf larger does the trick. I still have to think this through and visualize it.
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(There’s Sharpie instead of engraving on the crescent because my machine wigged out on engraving that ve…
tl;dr: For a simple project where inset shapes don’t touch, you can make the piece you plug in .008" bigger via Offset Path. But it is better to compensate all the pieces by half that amount.
This post has some additional tips about using Offset Path but the press-fit method it describes, again, is only for simple shapes.
I finally got around to playing with this today, thanks for the tutorial. I had a couple of comments for future readers, specifically folks who may want to make arbitrary press-fit shapes, which also require kerf compensation.
All is Not Always as it Seems: Use "Expand Appearance"
If your shape has any effects applied to it, like the handy Effect > Stylize> Round Corners, then the paths created by Object > Path > Offset Path will follow the original shape, not the stylized shape.
Here’s what …
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