cutlist for woodworkers

peter_jansen

Hi,

Been using CAD software for years now. Used Fusion 360, SolidWorks, LibreCAD and FreeCAD.
Very happy to use OnShape now, it works like it should and is very intuitive. 

One thing I do miss, and that most other programs have, is a cutlist for woodworkers.
I hoped that OpenBom might be useful, but the free version is useless and so stripped of functionality that I wonder why the bother. There is some cutlist functionalty in the Frames department, but not for 'own' made parts. There used to be a sort of working cutlist in the Beam featurescript.

So my question is: what can I do to get a proper cutlist from the items in an assembly that I designed?

john_mcclary

@MichaelPascoe may have something that would help here

MichaelPascoe

Thanks @john_mcclary for the mention.

The Frames feature is now in the default Onshape tool bar. It comes with the Cutlist feature which is for Frames.

Alternatively you can use the Measure cut list custom feature:
https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/16430/cut-list-new-custom-feature#latest

Note that either of these solutions will require you to either stay in the part studio or bring your parts back into the part studio to create the cut list. Onshape currently doesn't offer "AssemblyScript", so we have to use the part studio for easy production custom tools. You could go the hard way and make an app that does work in the assembly, but there is a reason this is the hard way. CADSharp specializes in custom features and apps, feel free to reach out to us if you need any custom solutions.

David_YL_Nguyen

Hey @peter_jansen,

I would probably also recommend the frames feature. For 'own' made parts, you can create a new sketch to be used as your frame profile. Then the cultist functionality will provide you the frame types, frame lengths and angles if there are any miters.

For sheets, you could use the Sheetmetal function which would then automatically provide you length and with of each sheet.

chadstoltzfus

We're a woodworking company (high end custom cabinetry) and we have spent the past 6 years or so building and maintaining a system of over 100 custom features (and a few API programs) to kind of superimpose a "cabinet CAD" system over top of Onshape. We have discussed options for opening up some of the system to the public, but I can't say much more than that. Though I'm happy to answer any questions surrounding the workings of the system.

peter_jansen

thanks to you both. So as I understand it now there is not a working cutlist solution for woodworkers.

peter_jansen

Oops, this works nicely:

Alternatively you can use the Measure cut list custom feature:
https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/16430/cut-list-new-custom-feature#latest

But it would be nice to have the partname as one of the columns. Is that possible?

Why is this feature hidden, it is very usefull for us woodworkers?

peter_jansen

David_YL_Nguyen said:

Hey @peter_jansen,

I would probably also recommend the frames feature. For 'own' made parts, you can create a new sketch to be used as your frame profile. Then the cultist functionality will provide you the frame types, frame lengths and angles if there are any miters.

For sheets, you could use the Sheetmetal function which would then automatically provide you length and with of each sheet.

I tried this, but this is not usable as a woordworkers cutlist. We need the dimensions and quantity of a part.
Maybe 'autolayout' could be used a base for proper cutlist functionality?

jnewth_onshape

Hi @peter_jansen
You saidpeter_jansen said:

Oops, this works nicely:

Alternatively you can use the Measure cut list custom feature:
https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/16430/cut-list-new-custom-feature#latest

But it would be nice to have the partname as one of the columns. Is that possible?

Why is this feature hidden, it is very usefull for us woodworkers?

I may be misunderstanding your question, but thought I would take a moment to clarify how Onshape and custom features work. Onshape's primary CAD toolset is written and maintained by Onshape staff, and all of those tools are always available in the part studio to all users (free, pro, ent, edu, etc).

"Search tools" is your friend. We have so many tools now!



There is another way to add functionality to Onshape: Custom features, such as the excellent work by @MichaelPascoe and many others on the forums, including the Measure Cut List under discussion. These aren't _hidden_ so much as _tricky to find_. These aren't written by Onshape staff and as such aren't added to the default toolset for all users, but many of them are extremely high quality and reliable. In my view the community and custom featurescripts are an enormous, largely untapped, source of power and possibility for the onshape platform.

In addition (the reason for this post, really): Community created custom features are safe and secure to use in your work. Even if the author chooses to update it, your version doesn't automatically update - it's your choice if/when to update. As far as privacy and safety are concerned: Custom features can't share/take any of your private data (that just isn't possible in FS, by design). And if you are worried about losing access -- don't be. Even if authors delete the FeatureScript, it won't disappear from your part studio.