Radial slicing for laser cutting

Hi :slight_smile:
I’ve been looking for an STL slicer for laser cutter for a long time, and Kiri:Moto’s GUI is by far my favorite. There’s actually a big hole when it comes to slicing STL’s for laser cutting. People used to work with 123D Make and Slicer for Fusion 360, but both of these were retired. So there’s no alternative. LuBan seems to do some of it, but it’s super outdated.
In any case, the current slicer in Kiri:Moto seems to be good only for simple things, like slicing an entire model into evenly spaced discs.

Here’s what I think would help make it more popular for laser cutting (I believe you could easily charge for it if you add this feature):

The users should be able to make some kind of a ‘skeleton’. Slices should be in two axis, with connections at the intersections. Either two perpendicular planes, or one major axis and radial slices around it. Basically make slices in several directions and then use a boolean operation to make joints.

Here’s an example of an old project someone made with 123D-Make:

Let me know what you think!

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I’ve seen projects like this and made a few the hard way. It’s a fun idea, but with a complex UI treatment, I fear. I’ll certainly think on it.

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Cool :slight_smile: I was thinking you’ve already done most of the job, but I have no experience with UI, and I was thinking about the math side. In any case, keep up your great work!

I’m really speaking from zero experience here…
But could it work to slice it twice, once in the x and then y, edit out alternative slices and make slots at every point of intersection? (like cubing a tomato in a way)

Even if it prompted the user for every single one it would still be significantly faster than doing it manually.

Yep, this is entirely possible. Code within KM for CNC contouring already does something like this. I don’t have time to explore this at the moment.

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I totally understand.
I’ve seen that slicing option. Can I export the sliced file back into CAD and modify it?

Probably not. I don’t think most CAD programs allow importing and editing of SVG or STL/OBJ

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oh is it SVG?
Fusion does to mixed results. But I can open it in inkscape and save it as DXF.
Is there an option to save as STEP?

laser output can be SVG or gcode. other modes output gcode