Hi everyone - enjoying learning lightburn but there’s so much to figure out …
2 questions please
1 is there a recommended lightburn tutorial series (training) which will help me to focus on skills rather than going round and round in circles troubleshooting (Based upon lack of knowledge)?
2 see simple image below for reference … I’m creating 3D assembled objects with tabs and slots. This is working fine but I am sure I can be more efficient in terms of how to build the shapes accurately. Main question is when I scale up my designs the slots and tabs scale too which is fine but the material depth obviously does not change. So atm I’m manually editing each slot and tab for the depth after scaling. I have to select each one and edit to change. Which is the most efficient way to do this? Can i somehow layer them and edit all at once? Can I force them not to scale? There are options in CAD software like fusion to make them into objects with set dimensions which do not change. I guess you get the idea of what I’m after.
Thanks in advance. Rich
So replying to myself as I have learned that I can select multiple slots and edit the properties for all at once. This is good but now how can I make all the part of a group so I can select all with one click and then edit properties? If I group them I can no longer edit their size. Should I group them, ungroup edit and then regroup? Is this sensible? Of course this does not work with tabs so that question still remains.
There’s a web site for a program called Cuttle that has an online template generator that may be helpful to you. Interestingly enough, one does not have to log in to use the generator. It performs parametric management and has a kerf adjustment as well. You might be able to integrate its creations with your project.
A true parametric creator program is also “out there.” It’s a library file for OpenSCAD specifically designed for creating tabbed boxes for laser cutting. As it is a library file, one is not limited to the creations shown in the demo, but it does require a bit of heavier mental management to use. I don’t have as much of that management as I once did, so I’ve not yet tested the program.
On the last question, you could place all the objects you want to “cluster” in a separate layer, with the same cut settings as the originating layer. Holding shift and clicking the layer entry in the layers palette will select all the items in that layer, allowing you to perform the actions you require.
Thanks a handy tip (shift click layer). Thanks I’ll use that only trouble is all the shapes I have in current files do not show properties but as I only need to alter slots i can redraw these quite quickly.
Thanks for ideas from the websites too
