Motivation

Laser cutters are awesome! Really - get one (for your hacker space)! But they are inherently 2D. So you need to be a bit creative to create something three dimensional. One way is using finger joints to join sheets to larger structures. Another is using flex cuts to bend flat pieces into the 3rd dimension.

The Challenge

I looked for a way to do that. Preferably a way to generate generic sketches that can easily be resized, that can be parametrized for different thickness and kerf. A solution that would not just scale size but adjust the number of fingers and flex cuts. A solution that would not only allow picking the size but also the style of the joints and other features - and that is open source so I can share my creations.

I looked at various CAD programs and available boxes generators that could be extended with my ideas. FreeCAD was still not there yet at the time. OpenSCAD did not support simple cuts which are needed for flex. The available box generators were either closed source or not really worth the effort. In addition, most parametric tools were 3D and required extra steps to generate a 2D drawing suitable for laser cutting.

The Solution

So I decided I can do this by myself. All it takes is a bit of turtle graphics. Can't be that difficult.

Four years and 10k LOC later you can create over forty different things. There is an API to build your own stuff - and some people have. Many users just generate parts, and modify and arrange them in a vector graphics program like Inkscape.

I started with simple boxes. Today the project stretches far beyond and includes things like trays and shelves, traffic (aka Jenkins) lights and a honey comb wine rack.

Boxes.py has even spawned its own sub projects here on Hackaday.io: A cute little robot and my first steps towards laser cut gear boxes.