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Easiest way to make slot joints for laser cutting?

matt_helliwellmatt_helliwell Member Posts: 4 ✭
in Using Onshape
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?

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    NeilCookeNeilCooke Moderator, Onshape Employees Posts: 5,401
    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
    Senior Director, Technical Services, EMEAI
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    matt_helliwellmatt_helliwell Member Posts: 4 ✭
    Thanks. I’d forgotten they were called lap joints!
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    lemon1324lemon1324 Member, Developers Posts: 223 EDU
    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.
    Arul Suresh
    PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
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    Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,066 PRO
    @lemon1324
    Will you version that edge joint feature so I can add it?
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
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    Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,066 PRO
    edited October 2023
    Also look at the Laser It feature to automate making waffle structures that slot together, and look at the X-Slot feature.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
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    lemon1324lemon1324 Member, Developers Posts: 223 EDU
    @Evan_Reese whoops, didn't realize I never versioned it, should be accessible now.
    Arul Suresh
    PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
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    lemon1324lemon1324 Member, Developers Posts: 223 EDU
    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.
    Arul Suresh
    PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
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    Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,066 PRO
    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.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
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    lemon1324lemon1324 Member, Developers Posts: 223 EDU
    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?
    Arul Suresh
    PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
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