BoxMaker

(Note: This Github Repository is unofficial. It should be considered a fork of the original BoxMaker at http://www.keppel.demon.co.uk/111000/111000.html)

A free tool for creating boxes using tabbed construction

version 0.85 - February 27 2012

please report bugs, comments etc to [email protected]

About

This tool is designed to simplify and speed up process of making practical boxes using a laser cutter (though it can be used with any CNC cutter) to prepare the pieces.

The tool works by generating a drawing of the pieces of the box with the tab and hole size corrected to account for the kerf (width of cut), these pieces are composed of sides, each side being a discreet object, to move a piece in the drawing the edges need to be grouped together.

Release Notes

So far no serious bugs( i.e causing runtime errors ) have been found. The program works with python versions 2.6.5, 2.6.7 and 2.7.2, other version have not yet been tried except python 2.5.1 which fails with a syntax error.

This version has been tried on windows XP, windows 7, Ubuntu and Mac OS X with no serious problems (the live preview works most of the time but can be flaky).

Only crude input checking has been implemented in the program but as the only output is a drawing the worst that can happen is a messed up picture (control-Z cures that problem).

To Do

Improve program documentation. Improve input checking to restrict values to correct solutions.

Use

The interface is pretty self explanatory, the extension is 'Tabbed Box Maker' in the 'Laser Tools' group (hopefully more tools will soon(ish) join it).

In order of appearance:

Unit

unit of measurement used for drawing

Box Dimensions: Inside/Outside

whether the box dimensions are internal or external

Length; Width; Height

the box dimensions

Minimum/Preferred Tab Width

the size of the tabs used to hold the pieces together

Tab Width: Fixed/Proportional

for fixed the tab width is the value given in the Tab Width, for proportional the side of a piece is divided equally into tabs and 'spaces' with the tabs size greater or equal to the Tab Width setting

Material Thickness

as it says

Kerf

this is the width of the cut (e.g for 3mm acrylic on an epilog cutter this is approximately 0.25mm)

Clearance

this value is subtracted from the kerf in cases where you deliberately want slightly slacker joints (usually zero)

Layout/Style

(This is where additions/changes will most likely occur, also having a problem with live preview: it is best to turn preview off when changing this setting) this setting determines both the type of drawing produced and the way tabs are used on the sides of pieces.

Space Between Parts

how far apart the pieces are in the drawing produced

Installation

Boxmaker.inx and Boxmaker.py need to be put in the inkscape extensions folder generally in: ...\Inkscape\share\extensions or linux: usr/.../Inkscape/share/extensions (NOTE: you need to make boxmaker.py executable)

Versions

 0.5    ( 9 oct 2011)   beta
 0.7    (24 oct 2011)   first release
 0.8    (26 oct 2011)   basic input checking implemented