You could create the text as 3D Text and then use an extension such as Shape Bender or True Bend to bend it to the desired radius but that would wind up stretching the geometry of the letters. You could make the letters as individual character components and place them around the gear. I do that for things like clock faces. An alternative would be to use a program like Inkscape to create the bent text, export a .dxf file from Inkscape and import that into SketchUp. Then create the 3D geometry for the letters from that.
I’ll probably go with creating 3D text and placing it around the gear. I have limited graphics editing options on this mac. Inkscape isn’t supported under this OS version.
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FWIW, when I need to do that sort of thing I create the 3D Text characters with Center justification so the insertion point is centered at the bottom of the character. Then I drag the characters in from the Components panel and drop them at points around the edge of a circle. After that they can be rotated as needed.
Another option would be to use Component Stringer or Path Copy plugins to place copies of a single character around the circle/arc and then use the Replace Component option to replace the wrong characters with the right ones.
Time for an update.
I used Arial Bold for the text but placing and rotating it proved to be finicky and tedious. My first trial-and-error attempts were doomed to fail because I had no template to follow for spacing and radius. I wound up making a template by bending a set of text around the tag which, along with a set of equidistant lines rotated around the centre point, served as a guide for placing and rotating a second set of undistorted text. This was more precise but still quite time consuming.
The results are compared in the photo. The dark grey tag in the upper left was the original model printed in standard resin at a width of 5 cm. You can see that the engraving is neither clear nor free of resin. The lighter coloured tags are the revised model printed in a water-washable resin at 5 and 5.5 cm widths.
I’m quite happy with the end product. The next step is to coat the tags with graphite powder, to simulate metal, which is a new process for me. I hope this doesn’t fill in or otherwise occlude the text but I won’t know until I try.
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Fabulous Post! Thanks to all participants. Lots of learning moments and techniques.
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