File preparation

To cut a part on the laser cutter’s rotary axis, you need a flat version of your (presumably circular) geometry. You can achieve this by turning your part into a Sheet Metal part and creating an engineering drawing.

  1. Create a thin (1mm or less) cut along the length of your part to make it ‘unwrappable’

    image-20250227-212335.png

  2. Convert the part to Sheet Metal

    image-20250227-212406.png

    1. Switch to the Sheet Metal toolbar tab

    2. Under Create, select Convert to Sheet Metal

  3. Create a flat pattern

    image-20250227-212615.pngimage-20250227-212557.png

    1. Select Create Flat Pattern and the outer surface of the part

    2. In the flat pattern view, create an engineering drawing at 1:1 scale (use a large enough sheet)

    3. Remove the frames, and title blocks

    4. Export the drawing as a PDF

  4. Open the PDF in Inkscape

    1. Remove the centerline

    2. Change the outline’s color to one different from the cuts (blue, for example)

    3. Interrupt large cuts - otherwise, the large off-cut will cam out or fall down, potentially bumping the part. (You can alternately achieve this by using the cropping tool in the laser’s software)