LayerCut documentation

Everything LayerCut does, from opening your first model to assembling the finished piece.

LayerCut takes a 3D model and works out how to build it from flat sheets on a laser cutter. You choose the material and the way the piece goes together. LayerCut then cuts the model into pieces, adds the slots, joints, pin holes and labels, packs the pieces onto sheets, and exports files your laser software can run.

Start here

• Install and first cut

  Download, install and take a model all the way to a cut file.

• The LayerCut window

  The settings, the 3D and Sheets views, and the top bar.

• Materials

  Save thickness, kerf, clearances and laser settings for each sheet you use.

• The fit test

  One small cut that tells you your real kerf and the best slot and pin fits.

Ways to build

• Stacked

  Layers glued flat, with alignment pins, guides and optional hollowing.

• Interlocking: grid

  Two sets of crossing slices that slot together like an egg crate.

• Interlocking: radial

  Spokes and rings for round shapes, solid or as an open shell.

• Panels

  Thin-walled boxes and organizers as flat panels with finger joints and slots.

• Living hinges

  Rounded corners cut as one bendable strip.

Cut and build

• Sheets and nesting

  How pieces are packed, and how to read the Sheets view.

• Export and LightBurn

  The files LayerCut writes and how to open them in LightBurn.

• Assembling your piece

  Using the assembly guide, labels, pins and joints.

• Warnings and notes

  What each message means and what to change.