3D projects

The 3D Project Creator makes things that stand up. You start from a template, set it up, and out comes a set of flat parts with tabs and slots cut into them — walls, floors, roofs, shelves, a hanging ring — that push together into the object.

It is a different instrument from Stepped Layers, which cuts one outline at several depths and glues the sheets in a stack. Here the parts are different shapes from each other and meet at right angles, so the question that decides whether it works is not how it looks — it is whether a 3.15 mm slot takes a 3 mm tab after the laser has taken its 0.15 mm off both.

How it works

1. 1Choose a template

   The builder opens on the whole library — every template on its shelf, Architecture, Decor, Organization, Models, Animals / Sculptures and Other — with a search box and a filter for each shelf. Every project starts from a template. To make something the library does not have, open the closest one and change its settings; what a template cannot do says where that stops.

2. 2Set it up

   A template shows its picture, starting size, materials, difficulty and roughly how many parts it makes. Under Adjust it are all of its settings — its width, depth and height, and things like the number of windows, the number of shelves, the roof's pitch or the number of sides — so you can set what you want before it is built. Then your material: 1/8" · 3 mm, 1/4" · 6 mm or Custom, its Actual thickness, Kerf and Fit. Create Project builds the template with those settings. On Pay as you go that press costs 100 credits, and the button says so before you press it; on Studio and its free trial it is included.

   A size is optional. These are vector files, so nothing is fixed by asking for one: leave the sizes as they are and you get the template's proportions. Every size can be changed afterwards.

3. 3Adjust it

   In the workspace the same settings are down the left, under Adjust your House (or whatever you started from), with your material below them, and the model rebuilds as you change each one. A setting you have changed is marked you; ↺ puts it back to the template's value. Change Template, at the top, goes back to the library to start again from another template — the settings you made belong to the one they were made on, and do not carry over. Another template is a new project, so on Pay as you go creating it costs 100 credits again.

4. 4Look at it, then download

   Assembled turns in 3D and comes apart with Exploded; Parts shows every flat piece. Laser ready means every part passed the check below. The download is a zip: the sheets, all the pieces on one page, a file per part, an assembly order and a README with your material settings written into it — and each set of files holds every piece, a part needed twice drawn twice. A change still being built when you press Download (.zip) is built first, and the zip is that build. If the builder could not build what is set, it says why, and nothing downloads until it can: the model on screen is then the last settings that built, not the ones in the boxes.

What a template cannot do

Each template is one construction, already known to go together, and its settings change its numbers and its options — never its parts. The parts, tabs and slots are worked out by our own code from those settings, every time one changes, which is why Laser ready means something: nothing is drawn that has not been checked to meet its mate.

That also sets its limits. A template can only become what its construction allows — a tower has a flat or stepped roof, not battlements; a box has a lift-off lid, not hinges. A combination of settings it cannot build is refused before anything is drawn, with the setting to change. For something no template's settings reach, start from the closest one, or build what is there and add the rest by hand.

The templates

Each is a construction already known to go together, with its sizes and options pulled out as settings, and each refuses a combination it cannot build before anything is drawn — twelve sides on a narrow tower is refused with the width that would work. Every template is listed by name under The template library below. They are built in seven ways:

• Walls round a floor — boxes, lanterns, towers, pots, planters and shades: three to twelve wall panels standing in a floor, with a top, a lid or a roof, plain walls or walls pierced with windows, slots or a lattice. The corners are described just below.
• Houses — four walls and two gables on a floor, under a roof of two panels the same size that interlock along the ridge like the fingers of two hands. They are cut as Roof panel A, with a long finger at each end of the ridge, and Roof panel B, with a short one, so they mesh whichever slope each goes on and whichever face is out — two identical panels only meshed one way round, and the other way every long finger met a long finger. The roof tabs are spread over each slope of the gables — two on a small house, six on the Railway Station 280 mm wide at 60 degrees — and on most roofs one of them is narrower than the rest and takes a shorter slot in the panel: by the eave on both slopes of a gable or, on many houses, by the apex on one. So the slots at a panel's top and bottom differ, and it goes on in its own place only with its fingers at the ridge. A panel can also be slid up its slots until one gable's tab finds a slot, turning a little in its own plane to get past the other gable's, and there it would run into the other panel; where it could, the house moves one slope's top tab up or down from the other's — by 1 mm on a fixed roof (up to 4 mm on a few in 6 mm sheet), and on a lift-off roof, whose slots are cut long, by 1 to about 20 mm — puts the narrower tab by the apex on one slope, leaves a wider gap above the lowest tab, or makes the tabs a little narrower — never under 6 mm. Then no panel goes on further up its slope than its own place — beyond the run a lift-off roof's long slots give it — unless pushed so far that its middle is past the ridge, where it tips off or hangs plainly over into the other panel's place; and, on a roof whose two slopes differ, a panel reaches the ridge only one way round: its fingers there, and the same face out as the other — if its slots will not meet the tabs, turn it over; where both slopes are the same it also goes on with its other face out, and the fingers still mesh. Not every roof keeps all its tabs: on a few lift-off roofs every layout with more tabs would still let a panel on further up, and those have one tab a slope, near the eave — among them the Church's in 6 mm at its default 150 mm and 55 degrees, the Townhouse's in 6 mm at 60 degrees, some 6 mm Boathouse and Gingerbread House roofs cut with a loose or snug fit, and some Church, Greenhouse and Chapel roofs in sheet that measures a little thinner or thicker than 3 mm. Where the moved tabs leave a gable window or the gable feature too little room, the house tries the next few layouts, and then the tabs a little narrower, before it asks you to change the house. A lift-off roof's slots are cut long towards the eaves so the roof can rise straight off, so its key is narrower still; in 6 mm sheet steeper than about 40 degrees there is no room for a key that narrow, and the tabs go down towards the eave instead — on most such roofs with one slope's top tab higher than the other's. The side walls go in one way up too: the bottom is the edge with the floor tabs, between the two ends that go into the gables, and the tabs on those ends are set below centre — 1.5 mm in 3 mm sheet, 3 mm in 6 mm — so an upside-down wall goes into the gables only standing lower than they do — 3 mm lower in 3 mm sheet, 6 mm in 6 mm — and the walls will not then go down onto the floor. Spread evenly about the middle, the end tabs let an upside-down wall in at its own height, and its floor tabs then stood under the roof. Up to three storeys, with or without a floor between them; square, round-topped, pointed or round windows and doorways; and shingles, slates or scallops on the roof and clapboard, boards, stone, brick or timber framing on the walls, engraved as score lines.
• Shelves — two upright sides with shelves, a top and a back slotted between them. Some are made only in 6 mm, because in 3 mm they would bow under what they are for; those open in 6 mm.
• Bridges — two girders standing on their ends, a deck slotted between them, and braces underneath. A girder can be solid, a truss or a row of arches, and the number of openings in it is a setting (Openings, or Truss bays on the Truss Bridge): 0 fits as many as the span allows. Bridges are 3 mm only for now.
• Stands — a back leaning on two or more brackets, over a base with a lip in front: phone, tablet, book and sign stands, a bookend, an easel. The back can be plain, or cut with arched windows, upright slots or a lattice.
• Trays — four walls on a floor with dividers inside, tabbed into the floor and walls; where a tray has dividers both ways, they cross one another in notches (half-laps). Rows and columns of compartments, with a lift-off lid, finger holes or a carrying handle where the template has them. Each wall and divider has its tabs along its bottom edge — a row of them, or a single one on some short pieces — and that edge goes down into the floor. Where there is room, the tabs and slots at its ends are set below centre, so one piece turned upside down among the rest goes in only standing lower than the others — by at least 1.5 mm, and by about 3 mm on the Weekly Pill Organizer in 6 mm — and the box will not then go down onto the floor. Centred, they let it in at its own height, and on a lidded box its floor tabs then stood where the lid comes down. The whole box still goes together upside down, every piece at once, so keep the tabs down as you build it: the steps say so.
• Slot-together — flat outlines that cross one another in notches cut halfway into each, so two or more pieces lock into one 3D shape: a tree, a sphere, a star or a snowflake to hang, an animal on its legs. An ornament that hangs by a loop on one piece is glued where the loop does not hold the other pieces in, and its steps say so.

How the walls meet at the corners

A laser cuts every edge square, so two wall panels cannot be cut to a mitred corner. Instead the panels of a box, a lantern or a tower are cut so that each corner closes without one panel passing through the other.

• Four sides — a box, or a square lantern or tower. Each wall runs past one corner and butts against the inside of the next wall, all the way round in the same direction, so every corner is closed and square. The slots in the floor and the top are set off-centre to match, so the walls stand that way of their own accord. With a removable door the door runs past both of its corners, and the wall on its left as you face it is a sheet thickness shorter and runs past neither, so both of the door's neighbours butt against the back of it and nothing stands in front of it — which is why the parts list has the door and the wall beside it as parts of their own, each a different length from the wall opposite it. Because the slots are off-centre, the bottom plate (or bottom ring or rim), the top plate (or top rim) and the roof cap fit only one face up: the face that lay against the laser bed. A drop-in floor has no slots and fits either way. Turned over, every slot is a sheet thickness away from its tab — if one will not go on, turn it over.
• Three sides, or five and more — a hexagonal or octagonal lantern or tower, or a triangle. The panels meet at their inside edges and leave a V-shaped groove down the outside of each corner, narrower the more sides there are: in 3 mm ply it is 3 mm across on a hexagon, 2.3 mm on an octagon and 5.2 mm on a triangle, and twice that in 6 mm. A little wood filler closes it if you would rather not see it.

The risers under a stepped roof meet in the same way.

A removable door, on any number of sides, is tabbed only at its foot and stands right up under the top plate, so it comes out with the top lifted off: up out of its slots, then forwards. A removable floor drops in from above and rests on the bottom ring, so it too goes in, and comes out, with the top off.

The template library

Every template in the library, 166 of them, on the shelves the studio shows. Open one to see its settings; each card says what it is made in, and a template made in one thickness only says so here too.

Architecture

• House — A gabled house: four walls on a floor under a shingled roof, with windows and an arched doorway.
• Simple Tower — A tall square, hexagonal or octagonal tower with rows of small windows and a stepped roof.
• Cottage — A small stone cottage with a steep slate roof, arched windows and a round window in each gable.
• Cabin — A low cabin with wide eaves, clapboard walls, a shingled roof and a plain doorway.
• Barn — A big, low board-sided barn under a steep roof, with a wide doorway, a hayloft window and a row of small windows.
• Church — A long stone church with a steep roof, tall pointed windows, a pointed doorway and a rose window - the nave only, no tower.
• Chapel — A small clapboard country chapel: round-topped windows, an arched doorway and a pointed window high in the gable.
• Haunted House — A tall three-storey gothic house, shut up long ago: boarded-up pointed windows, a steep scalloped roof, a pointed doorway and a rose window.
• Victorian House — A two-storey clapboard house with tall arched windows, a slate roof and a round window in each gable.
• Gingerbread House — A little gingerbread house: round windows and an arched doorway each framed like piped icing, brick walls and a scalloped roof.
• Townhouse — A narrow three-storey brick townhouse with rows of tall windows and a slate roof.
• Schoolhouse — A one-room schoolhouse: long clapboard walls with tall windows and a round window over the door.
• Garden Shed — A board-sided garden shed with a wide doorway, one window a side and a low shingled roof.
• Fairy House — A tiny stone fairy house: low walls under a very steep scalloped roof with deep eaves, round windows, a tall arched door and a pointed window high in each gable.
• Tudor House — A two-storey Tudor house with engraved timber framing, leaded windows and a slate roof.
• Medieval Tower — A square castle keep with inset arrow slits and a flat roof overhanging the walls.
• Lighthouse — A tall slim octagonal lighthouse with stacked window slits and a lamp room under its cap. 3 mm only.
• Watchtower — A square timber watchtower with cross-braced walls under a stepped roof.
• Skyscraper — A tall square skyscraper with a fine grid of windows and a stepped crown.
• Office Tower — A rectangular office block with bands of ribbon windows and a flat roof.
• Farmhouse — A broad two-storey clapboard farmhouse under a steep shingled roof, with a row of windows on each floor and a plain doorway.
• Swiss Chalet — A two-storey board-sided Alpine chalet under a low shingled roof whose eaves reach far out past every wall.
• Beach Hut — A tiny, tall board-sided beach hut, open across most of its front by one wide doorway, with no windows. 3 mm only.
• Fire Station — A two-storey brick fire station with an engine-wide doorway, arched windows and round gable windows.
• Greenhouse — A greenhouse whose walls are rows of tall windows between narrow rails and whose roof is a frame of rails round big open panes. 3 mm only.
• Boathouse — A board-sided boathouse with a wide arched doorway in its gable end for the boat, open to the water with no floor.
• Castle Turret — An eight-sided castle turret with cross-shaped arrow loops under a two-step stepped roof with eaves. 3 mm only.
• Bell Tower — A tall square bell tower with two arched belfry openings near the top of each wall and a two-step roof.

Decor

• Lantern — Pierced panels round a polygon, with a stepped roof and a hanging ring.
• Simple Box — Four walls on a floor, with a lift-off lid or an open top.
• Plant Stand — A tall plant stand on arched feet, with a square top and two shelves below it, open at the front and back.
• Figurine Display — An open display stand for figures and collectibles: three shelves and a top between sides with rounded windows, open at the back so it can stand anywhere.
• Christmas Tree — A 3D Christmas tree of crossed tree outlines with a star on top, standing in a round base.
• Star Ornament — A 3D star of two crossed star outlines that hangs from a loop: for a tree branch, a window or a wall. 3 mm only.
• Snowflake Ornament — A 3D snowflake of crossed flakes with branching arms, hung from a loop. 3 mm only.
• Bauble — A 3D bauble of crossed discs with an equator ring round the middle and a hanging loop. 3 mm only.
• Heart Ornament — A 3D heart of two crossed hearts on a hanging loop: a Valentine's or wedding decoration. 3 mm only.
• Crescent Moon — A 3D crescent moon: a moon outline with slices across it that give it depth, hung from a loop on top. 3 mm only.
• Jewelry Box — A lidded box of eight small compartments for rings, earrings and necklaces, with a knob on top.
• Tea Box — A lidded tea chest of nine square compartments, each sized for a row of tea bags standing up.
• Tea Light Holder — A small pierced cube, open at the top, to hold an LED tea light.
• Votive Holder — A squat hexagonal votive sleeve with fluted walls of narrow upright slots, open at the top.
• Luminary — A tall square luminary of fine diamond lattice, open at the top like a lantern bag.
• Candle Lantern — A square carriage lantern with window-pane walls, a stepped roof, a ring and a lift-out door.
• Moroccan Lantern — An octagonal lantern cut with a Moroccan lattice, under a tall stepped roof with a ring.
• Hanging Lantern — A slim pendant lantern, open underneath, with slotted panels and a ring on a stepped roof.
• Pentagon Lantern — A five-sided lantern with cross-lattice panels, a stepped roof and a hole to hang it by.
• Triangle Lantern — A three-sided lantern of diamond-lattice panels under a stepped roof with a hanging ring.
• Lamp Shade — A twelve-sided drum shade of pierced panels, open at both ends, to stand over a lamp.
• Gift Box — A square gift box with a stepped lid: a smaller raised cap on top of a lid that lifts off.
• Hexagonal Box — A low six-sided trinket box with a lift-off lid.
• Octagonal Box — An eight-sided box with fine diamond-lattice walls and a lift-off lid.
• Keepsake Box — A rectangular memory box with Moroccan-lattice walls, a lift-off lid and a lift-out floor.
• Planter — A square slatted planter cover, open at the top, to drop a potted plant into.
• Hexagonal Planter — A six-sided trellis planter cover of open diamond lattice, open at the top.
• Display Pedestal — A square plinth with an overhanging top and foot, to raise a figure or a plant.
• Vase Sleeve — A tall slim octagonal sleeve of fine cross lattice, open at the top, for a bottle vase.
• Pumpkin — A Halloween pumpkin of crossed pumpkin outlines - ribbed lobes and a stem - with a jack-o'-lantern face cut through the front.
• Easter Egg — A decorated Easter egg of crossed egg outlines with zigzag, dotted or diamond bands cut through them, standing in a round base or hung from a loop.
• Bell Ornament — A 3D Christmas bell of crossed bell outlines, with a ribbon bow on top and a loop to hang it. 3 mm only.
• Snowman — A 3D snowman of crossed snowman outlines - stacked snowballs, a hat, twig arms and eyes - standing in a round base.
• Gingerbread Man Ornament — A 3D gingerbread man of crossed biscuit-shaped figures with an engraved icing line and two eyes, hung from a loop. 3 mm only.
• Hanging Wall Shelf — A two-tier wall shelf with scalloped sides, a top and a back panel, and two keyholes in the back to hang it on two screws.
• Shot Glass Display — A shallow wall display for shot glasses: four railed tiers and a top between sides with a round hole at each tier, a back panel, and two keyholes to hang it.
• Plate Stand — A display stand that holds a decorative plate upright: the plate's rim sits on a narrow ledge behind a low lip and leans back on a short arched mast.
• Herb Planter — A long rectangular trough of upright slats, open at the top, for a row of 9 cm herb pots.
• Round Box — A low twelve-sided drum box with a lift-off lid, as near to round as flat walls go. 3 mm only.
• Triangle Box — A low three-sided box with a lift-off lid. 3 mm only.
• Night Light — A small square night-light shade under a stepped cap, fine Moroccan lattice above a solid base, open underneath - 92 mm across in 3 mm sheet, 80 mm in 6 mm - to stand over a battery LED puck light.
• Pendant Shade — A hexagonal ceiling pendant shade, open at the top and bottom, hung from a cord set by a hub in its top rim.
• Pagoda Lantern — A standing hexagonal lantern of fine window-grid panels under a three-step pagoda roof with wide eaves, which lifts off to put the light in. 3 mm only.

Organization

• Shelf / Display Stand — Two upright sides with evenly spaced shelves slotted between them, with an optional top, back panel and front rails.
• Bookshelf — A tall desk-top bookcase: plain sides, two shelves and a top, and a back panel that keeps it square under a row of books.
• Spice Rack — A shallow three-tier rack for spice jars, with a front rail on every shelf so nothing slides off and a back panel to hang it by.
• Shoe Rack — A low, open shoe rack in 6 mm sheet: two shelves and a top between arched sides, with no back so air gets through.
• Monitor Riser — A low stand in 6 mm sheet that lifts a monitor or laptop to eye level, on arched sides, with a shelf underneath for a keyboard or papers.
• Nail Polish Rack — A slim wall rack with six narrow shelves, each with a low front rail, for rows of nail polish bottles.
• Bedside Caddy — A small two-level caddy for the bedside table: phone and glasses on top, and a railed shelf below for a book or remote.
• Wall Cubby — A square cubby to hang on the wall: two open compartments, rounded windows in the sides and a back panel to screw through.
• Desk Organizer — A deep desk tidy with six compartments for pens, pencils, scissors and clips.
• Drawer Organizer — A low insert of eight compartments for a kitchen or desk drawer, with finger holes to lift it out.
• Cutlery Tray — A drawer tray of four long compartments running front to back, for knives, forks and spoons.
• Watch Box — A long lidded box with a row of four compartments, one watch in each.
• Bead Tray — A low tray of forty-eight small compartments for beads, buttons, screws or seeds.
• Tool Caddy — An open caddy with a tall carrying handle down the middle and compartments either side.
• Remote Control Caddy — A tall, narrow caddy of four upright slots for remote controls beside the sofa.
• Makeup Organizer — A tall-walled organizer of eight compartments for brushes, pencils, lipsticks and small pots, its dividers lower than the walls.
• Spice Drawer Insert — A drawer insert of four channels running left to right, for spice jars laid on their sides.
• Sewing Box — A lidded box of six compartments with low dividers, for thread, needles, scissors and tape.
• Phone Stand — A desk stand for a phone leaning back behind a low lip, with a cable slot for a right-angle charging plug (a straight plug needs the phone on its side). 3 mm only.
• Tablet Stand — A wider, more reclined stand that holds a tablet or e-reader in its case upright (not a laptop riser), with an arched window in the back and an optional cable slot.
• Business Card Holder — A low desk pocket for a stack of business cards: a short back behind a tall front lip, about 100 mm wide for 85-90 mm cards standing on their long side. 3 mm only.
• Recipe Stand — A kitchen stand for a 6 x 4 inch recipe card or a folded printed page, with a diamond lattice back and a narrow ledge.
• Cookbook Stand — A large reclined stand that holds an open cookbook on a deep ledge behind a tall lip, with three brackets and an arched window between each pair. It has no page clips.
• Book Stand — A display stand that shows a closed book (or a record) cover out: a wide back with three arched windows, a deep ledge for a thick book and a tall lip in front.
• Bookend — An upright bookend braced by curved brackets behind, on a base that reaches forward under the books, whose weight holds it down. This cuts one; cut it twice for a pair.
• Pencil Holder — A square desk pot for pencils, open at the top, with a grid of small windows.
• Utensil Holder — A tall octagonal crock for kitchen utensils, with ribbed walls of narrow slots.
• Pen Cup — A hexagonal pen cup with fine cross-lattice walls.
• Storage Box — A large rectangular crate with slatted sides and a lift-off lid.
• Waste Bin — A tall square wastepaper bin with narrow upright slots.
• Brush Holder — A tall three-sided pot for paint or make-up brushes.
• Valet Tray — A low tray of three side-by-side compartments for keys, a wallet and a phone, each big enough for a large phone lying flat.
• Tackle Box — A lidded box of eighteen small compartments, each at least 40 x 60 mm, for hooks, sinkers, swivels and small lures, with a finger hole in each end.
• Battery Organizer — A low tray of sixteen narrow channels, each holding a row of five AA or seven AAA batteries standing up.
• Seed Packet Box — A long lidded box of four channels for standard 3 1/4 x 4 1/2 inch seed packets standing upright between low dividers, filed front to back, with a finger hole in each end.
• Coaster Holder — A small open box for a stack of 4 inch (102 mm) square or round coasters up to 45 mm high, with a finger hole in each end.
• Card Game Box — A lidded box with a knob and five slots, each holding a standard deck of playing cards in its box standing on end, the dividers low so the top of each deck stands clear to lift out.
• Recipe Card Box — A lidded box with a knob for 4 x 6 inch recipe cards standing on their long edge, in three sections split by low dividers.
• Weekly Pill Organizer — A long, low tray of seven compartments in a row, one for each day of the week, each at least 30 x 45 mm for a day's tablets and capsules, with an optional lift-off lid.
• Desktop Shelf — A low two-tier shelf for the back of a desk: two shelves between sides that sweep down at the front, with a back panel and no top.
• Essential Oil Rack — A wall rack for 15 ml essential oil bottles, two rows deep: five railed tiers and a top between diamond-lattice sides, with a back panel and two keyholes to hang it.
• Bathroom Shelf — A three-tier wall shelf for toiletries, with a top, a back panel, a low rail on each shelf, upright slots in the sides that let the air through, and two keyholes to hang it.
• Letter Rack — A desk letter rack: three pockets for envelopes and letters, front to back, split by dividers that step up in height from a low front to a tall leaning back.
• Toy Box — A rectangular toy chest with a row of stars cut in the front and back, a hand hole in each end and an overhanging lift-off lid.

Models

• Simple Bridge — Two side girders standing on their ends, with a deck slotted between them and cross braces underneath. An arched underside, and truss or arched openings in the railing. 3 mm only.
• Truss Bridge — A Warren truss bridge: tall side girders cut into a row of triangles above the deck, straight underneath and braced across below the deck. 3 mm only.
• Arch Bridge — A stone-style arch bridge: solid parapets over a deep arch that springs from a foot at each end. 3 mm only.
• Footbridge — A narrow footbridge with a balustrade of round-headed openings along both sides and a gentle arch underneath. 3 mm only.
• Railway Bridge — A plate-girder railway bridge for a model layout: straight, solid girders either side of a single-track deck. 3 mm only.
• Garden Bridge — A short, wide garden bridge with a humped arch underneath and a row of arched openings along each railing. 3 mm only.
• Long Span Bridge — A long, slender girder bridge: solid side girders running 500 mm, swept up underneath in one long shallow arch, with six cross braces along the deck. 3 mm only.
• Globe — A globe of crossed meridian discs with an equator ring, on a stem standing in a round base.
• Airplane — A propeller plane or a jet: a fuselage with a wing and a tail plane slotted through it, on a stand.
• Rocket — A space rocket standing on three to eight swept fins, made from rocket outlines slotted together.
• Sailboat — A sailing boat with one to three sails, a deck slotted through its hull and a keel stand to stand on.
• Hot Air Balloon — A hot air balloon of crossed outlines - a round envelope and a basket hung on ropes below it - standing on its basket in a round base or hung from a loop.
• Ringed Planet — A planet with a wide ring round it like Saturn's: crossed discs and a ring in two halves, hung from a loop or on a stand.
• Railway Station — A long, low brick station building for a model railway, with a row of arched windows down each side under a slate roof.
• Signal Box — A railway signal box: a tall brick cabin with a band of big windows all round its upper storey and none below. 3 mm only.
• Silo — A tall twelve-sided farm silo with a few small windows high up and a stepped cap. 3 mm only.

Animals / Sculptures

• Tree — A leafy 3D tree: crossed outlines of a trunk under a round, billowing crown, in a round base.
• Cactus — A saguaro cactus with arms reaching up, made 3D from crossed outlines in a square pot base.
• Mushroom — A toadstool with a domed, spotted cap, made 3D from crossed mushroom outlines.
• Ribbed Sphere — A sphere sliced into ribs that slot across one another like an egg crate, with a flat cut on the bottom to stand on.
• Ribbed Vase — A vase in silhouette with round ribs stacked through it from foot to lip: a decorative sculpture.
• Abstract Sculpture — Wavy ribbon outlines crossed round a column so their swells twist up it, on a square base.
• Geometric Sculpture — A faceted diamond or a tall crystal built from flat slices that slot across one another.
• Dinosaur — A stegosaurus with plates down its back, or a long-necked dinosaur, on two slotted pairs of legs.
• Reindeer — A reindeer with branching antlers slotted across its head, standing on two pairs of slim legs.
• Cat — A cat with pointed ears and its tail curled up, standing on two slotted pairs of legs.
• Elephant — An elephant with big ears slotted across its head and its trunk down or raised, on sturdy legs.
• Giraffe — A tall giraffe with a long neck and round spots cut through it, on two pairs of long legs.
• Horse — A horse with an arched neck, a mane and a flowing tail, standing on two pairs of legs with hooves.
• Bird — A bird in flight with its wings spread, slotted through its body, to hang up or stand on a post.
• Fish — A fish with a forked tail and its side fins slotted through it, on a stand or hung from a loop.
• Whale — A whale with long flippers and its tail flukes slotted through it, and a spout if you like.
• Palm Tree — A palm tree of crossed outlines: a ringed trunk under drooping fronds, with coconuts, on a sandy mound in a round base.
• Dog — A dog with a square muzzle, floppy or pricked ears and its tail up, on two slotted pairs of legs.
• Bear — A bear with a hump over its shoulders and its head carried low, on two pairs of thick legs.
• Pig — A round pig with a flat snout and a curly tail, on two pairs of short legs.
• Cow — A cow with horns, an udder, a tufted tail and patches cut through it, on two pairs of legs.
• Rabbit — A rabbit with long ears standing up or lopped down, a round cotton tail and a hunched back, on short legs.
• Fox — A fox with big pointed ears, a long snout and a bushy tail held out behind, on two pairs of slim legs.
• Lion — A lion with a shaggy mane, round its head and slotted across its neck, and a tufted tail.
• T. rex — A tyrannosaurus standing on its own two legs, its tail held out to balance its big head.
• Dragon — A horned dragon with spikes down its back and bat wings slotted down through it, on four legs.
• Dolphin — A dolphin leaping in an arch, its flippers slotted through it, on a post in a round base.

Other

• Dog House — A model dog house - a toy or a display piece, not a full-size kennel: a big arched doorway in a board-sided kennel under a shingled roof.
• Birdhouse — A nest box for small birds: a 30 mm entrance hole high on the front, its bottom 130 mm above the floor, drainage holes in the floor and a roof that lifts off for cleaning.
• Sign Stand — A tall, nearly upright table stand for a printed sign or menu card, with a narrow ledge and a low lip for a card or a sheet in a sleeve.
• Photo Frame Stand — A low stand with upright slots in its back that props up a framed photo, a plate or a canvas taller than itself on its ledge. It is the stand, not the frame. 3 mm only.
• Small Easel — A tabletop easel: a tall narrow mast with an arched window, leaning back over a wide ledge and lip that hold a small canvas, a board or a chalkboard. 3 mm only.
• Table Number Stand — A small, nearly upright arched stand for a wedding or restaurant table number: a 4 x 6 inch card stands on its narrow ledge against an arched back with an arched window.
• Place Card Holder — A tiny stand for one dinner or wedding place card, flat or a folded one opened out, which stands on a narrow ledge against a low arched back. 3 mm only.
• Mantel Picture Ledge — A long, low ledge that stands on a mantelpiece or sideboard - it does not hang on a wall - with a row of photos, postcards or small frames leaning against its slotted back. 3 mm only.

Your material

Three numbers decide whether the parts fit, and all three are on the material panel.

• Thickness is what your board actually measures, not what it was sold as. “3 mm” plywood is routinely 2.7 mm or 3.2 mm, and every slot in the project is cut to this number. Measure a offcut with calipers if you have them.
• Kerf is how much width the beam burns away — usually 0.10 to 0.25 mm on a diode or CO₂ laser in thin ply. It is already applied to the files you download.
• Fit is how tight you want the joints: Press cuts each slot 0.05 mm narrower than the sheet, so the tab is tapped home and holds without glue; Snug cuts it 0.05 mm wider and needs firm hand pressure; Normal 0.15 mm wider pushes together and stays; Loose 0.3 mm wider assembles easily and wants glue. Normal is the safe choice for plywood, whose thickness varies; press only suits sheet of even thickness, such as acrylic, and is worth a test joint first. Whatever the fit, a slot is always a little longer than its tab, so only the thickness is gripped.

The boxes take any thickness above 0.1 mm and up to 25 mm, a kerf from 0 to 2 mm, and a sheet above 10 mm and up to 3000 mm each way. A number outside that is not used: the box goes back to the value in use, and a line under the boxes says so. Inside it, the thickness you type is the one every part is built and cut for — though not every template can be made in every thickness, and one that cannot says why instead of building.

What kerf compensation actually does

The beam removes material from both sides of the line it follows. So a part cut exactly on its outline comes off the bed half a kerf small in every direction, and a slot cut exactly on its outline comes out half a kerf wide. The files move every outer edge half a kerf outward and every hole half a kerf inward, which cancels both. The drawing and the finished part are then the same size.

Reading the check

Every rebuild is checked against your material before you are offered the download. Findings come in two strengths: errors mean the object will not cut or will not go together, and warnings mean it will cut but something may be fragile or awkward.

Each finding carries a short code, printed beside the message, which links to its section below.

The object will not go together

It will not survive the cutter

The numbers do not describe a real object

Your projects

Every 3D project you create is kept in your account, with its template, the settings you changed, its material and its name, and is listed on your account page with your other projects. In the builder, the folder button at the top left lists them all, newest first, each with the picture of the template it started from, its name, its template and when you last changed it — opening a project does not count, whoever opens it — click one to open it, from any browser. Only its settings are kept: the parts are made again from them each time you open it, and the cut files each time you download them. The box beside the folder button is the open project's name; type over it to rename it.

New project goes to the library to start another: the project you had open stays exactly as it is, in the list. Close project puts the open one away, as in the other studios: nothing more is saved to it from this browser — in this tab or any other — and a reload does not bring it back, until you open it again from the list.

Delete project at the right of the same bar deletes the open project, and delete beside each project in the list deletes that one. Either asks first. Deleting is permanent and cannot be undone, and the credits a project cost on Pay as you go are not returned.

A project you had open in the builder before projects were kept in your account is moved into it the first time you open the builder in that browser, without charge, and the builder says so.

What is in the download

Each of the three sets of cut files — the sheets, all-parts.svg and individual-parts — holds every piece the project takes: a part needed twice, such as a house's side walls, is drawn twice in each. So cut from one set, not from several. If a part is bigger than your sheet it is left off the sheets, the README says how many pieces they hold, and Laser ready is not shown until the sheet size is right.

In earlier downloads all-parts.svg and the individual files held each part once, so anything with a part needed more than once came out short: a house a roof panel and a side wall, a box a wall or two. Download the project again, which is free, and every file carries every piece. For a house, cut the whole house again from the new files, keeping only its floors. The gables, the side walls and both roof panels have all changed since then: an old roof panel does not mesh with Roof panel A or Roof panel B, and old side walls do not fit new gables. Likewise for a tray or a box with compartments: cut its walls and dividers again, and keep its floor, lid, lid liner and knob. Pieces from one download go together; pieces from two may not.

• sheets/ — every piece packed onto sheets of the size you set. One file per sheet, cut them in order.
• all-parts.svg — every piece on one page. Start here if your software imports one file and you nest it yourself.
• individual-parts/ — one file per part, holding every copy of it: two side walls in side-wall.svg. For recutting a single part without touching the rest — from the same download as the rest, since a part from a newer version may not fit the old ones.
• README.txt — the material settings, the kerf warning, the finished size, the part list with quantities, and a list of the files saying what each holds.
• Score lines — engraved detail (a roof's shingles, a wall's stonework, a border round a sculpture) is drawn in blue, in its own group, before the black cut lines. It marks the surface and must not cut through: in LightBurn it arrives as its own layer, so set that layer to Line at low power — test on an offcut — and leave the black layer as Cut.
• assembly.json and project.json — the assembly order, and the full specification so the project can be rebuilt exactly.

Common questions