A tool to generate joints for laser cutting

Currently Python 3.7 is recommended for use of laser_assistant.

There are two main dependencies for this program, SVG Path Tools and PyClipper. It is important not to use pip to install SVG Path Tools because this program requires a newer version than pip offers. All other dependencies not listed below are standard Python libraries.

pip install pyclipper

git clone git@github.com:mathandy/svgpathtools.git; cd svgpathtools; python setup.py install

python laser_assistant.py

This should run without errors taking input-samples/test8-01.svg as input and producing output.svg which has joints generated and kerf compensated paths.

usage: laser_assistant.py [-h] [--input INPUT] [--output OUTPUT]
                          [--thickness THICKNESS] [--segments SEGMENTS]
                          [--kerf KERF] [--jointtype JOINTTYPE]
                          [--tsize TSIZE]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --input INPUT
  --output OUTPUT
  --thickness THICKNESS
  --segments SEGMENTS
  --kerf KERF
  --jointtype JOINTTYPE
  --tsize TSIZE

The current implementation requires SVG input files to be organized in layers (<g>) for the program to understand the organization of the model.

At the top layer There should be one layer for each component of the model or "face". Each should be named called Face# where # enumerates the faces(eg. Face1, Face2, etc), and each of those should have 3 sublayers called Perimeter, Cuts, and Joints which contains an additional sublayer for each "joint".

Perimeter should contain a path that traces the outermost edge of the face, and Cuts should contain paths within the face to be cut out (if any). Joints are named with the convention J#-X where # enumerates the specific joint, and X is either A or B signifying which half of the joint this linear path represents. For example Face1 might contain J1-A, and Face2's joint layer might contain J1-B representing the joint that connects Face1 to Face2. See the example in test8-01.svg for reference.

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 260 120">
    <g id="Face2">
        <g id="Perimeter">
            <rect x="150" y="10" width="100" height="100" style="fill:none;stroke:#2e3192;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:0.25px"/>
        </g>
        <g id="Cuts">
            <rect x="210" y="70" width="30" height="30" style="fill:none;stroke:#231f20;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:0.25px"/>
        </g>
        <g id="Joints"><g id="J1-A">
            <line x1="150" y1="110" x2="150" y2="10" style="fill:none;stroke:#00a651;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:0.25px"/>
        </g></g>
    </g>
    <g id="Face1">
        <g id="Perimeter-2" data-name="Perimeter">
            <rect x="10" y="10" width="100" height="100" style="fill:none;stroke:#2e3192;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:0.25px"/>
        </g>
        <g id="Cuts-2" data-name="Cuts">
            <rect x="30" y="40" width="20" height="20" style="fill:none;stroke:#231f20;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:0.25px"/>
            <rect x="40" y="70" width="20" height="30" style="fill:none;stroke:#231f20;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:0.25px"/>
        </g>
        <g id="Joints"><g id="J1-B">
            <line x1="110" y1="10" x2="110" y2="110" style="fill:none;stroke:#00a651;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:0.25px"/>
        </g>
        </g>
    </g>
</svg>

The next step is to assist the user in taking an unformatted SVG and breaking it down into faces, cuts, and joints.

Stay tuned!