View source for Making a Tabbed Box using the Laser Cutter

[[File:Canister3.JPG|200px|right]]
The tabbed box is one of the simplest and most useful things to design for the [[Laser Cutting|laser cutter]]. There are several online applications that will take your input and allow you to download an [[vector graphics|.svg]] file that can be incorporated into [[Inkscape]], [[CorelDraw]], or [[Adobe Illustrator|Illustrator]]. In my view, using an [[Inkscape Extensions|Inkscape extension]] is by far the easiest way to design your box and make adjustments right in Inkscape itself.

[[File:BoxMaker.png|left]]

:1. Download the BoxMaker Extension for Inkscape ([https://github.com/paulh-rnd/TabbedBoxMaker BoxMaker]).
:2. Open the .zip file and copy the files “boxmaker.inx” and “boxmaker.py” into your Inkscape extensions folder (usually \Program Files\Inkscape\share\extensions\”).
:3. Restart Inkscape, then click on the “Extensions” menu and highlight the heading “Laser Tools”.
:4. Select “Tabbed Box Maker”, a pop-up menu will appear asking for the properties of the box you would like to design.
::::::::::::::a.  Select your measurement units.
::::::::::::::b.  Inside/Outside refers to whether your measurement dimensions are for the inside of the box or the outside.
::::::::::::::c. Enter your dimensions and preferred tab width (note, if you select a tab width too big or too small for the box dimensions, the extension will give you an error message.)
::::::::::::::d. Enter the thickness of the material you are going to make the box out of.
::::::::::::::e. The kerf for a laser cutter can be kept at zero.
:5. Click “Apply”, then close the extension.  Your box parts should be in your open Inkscape screen ready for further editing.
:6. Remember to set the line widths to 0.001” to make sure that they cut instead of etch.
[[User:Tschule|Timothy M. Schuler, Ph.D.]] ([[User talk:Tschule|talk]])


Also a good option is this website which allows you to download laser cut plans for a box through user inputs:
http://www.makercase.com/