Easiest way to make slot joints for laser cutting?

matt_helliwell

I'm new to OnShape (and CAD for that matter) so bear with me: what's the easiest way to make simple slot joints to slot two perpendicular pieces of wood over each other? For example to make dividers in a box, as in the image. I can create them very laboriously but is there a simple workflow I can follow or a FeatureScript that will do it for me?

NeilCooke

Add the box joint feature to your toolbar:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/57612867e4b018f59e4d52ce
Also the lap joint feature may help too:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/578ce95de4b0e425c1f00cda

matt_helliwell

Thanks. I’d forgotten they were called lap joints!

lemon1324

Not sure if you've found these yet, but I've also got a suite of laser-cut FeatureScripts I've developed:

1. Laser Joint - automatically does finger joints for corner joints.
   
2. T-Slot Joint - for when you want a removable connection - slightly less automatic
   
3. Kerf Compensation - if you laser cutter (like most non-industrial laser cutters) doesn't compensate for kerf.
   
4. Auto Layout - nests parts "pretty well" for cutting.

For your particular use case, I've also got Edge Joint, which is not yet documented and still not necessarily complete, but provided "no-warranty".  It's similar to Neil's lap joint, but automatically performs joints for a whole assembly in one go, and has a heuristic to make sure the joints on all the parts are oriented in a way that makes sense.

EvanReese

@lemon1324
Will you version that edge joint feature so I can add it?

EvanReese

Also look at the Laser It feature to automate making waffle structures that slot together, and look at the X-Slot feature.

lemon1324

@Evan_Reese whoops, didn't realize I never versioned it, should be accessible now.

lemon1324

Also it looks like the X-Slot feature isn't marked for public viewing, not sure if you intend it to be or not though.

EvanReese

lemon1324 said:

Also it looks like the X-Slot feature isn't marked for public viewing, not sure if you intend it to be or not though.

Ah it's the ol' enterprise domain messing things up. I just edited the links in my post above to be at cad.onshape.com instead of ovyl.onshape.com and it should work now.

lemon1324

Yep, I see it - it looks to me like X-Slot doesn't reproject the intersection volume to enforce the final part being laser-cuttable - i.e. it would cut cases B and C here at an angle and not orthogonal to each part. Is that a correct reading of it?