Share

Applies to 2025.0 Update and later

 
 

Plane cut reference

Options and parameters explained

Once a cut plane or stencil is created, there are several tools available to adjust it and modify the result of the cut.
Note: Much of this functionality is unique to plane cuts. Only the cutting options are available for both plane and polygon cuts.

Jump to:

Context view: Cut plane information

Base point

Reports the coordinates of the center point of the plane

Move parallel

Translates the plane by a specified distance so that it remains parallel to the current orientation

Roll, Pitch, Yaw

Reports the roll, pitch, and yaw angles of the plane

Drag the slider or type an angle value to adjust the orientation of the plane. Roll and Pitch control the rotation of the cutting plane. Yaw sets the rotation of the plane around the vertical axis running through its center point.

Note: With a yaw of 90°, the side edges are rotated as well, although no apparent change is seen. The angles of roll and pitch are exchanged, compared to a yaw of 0°.
Size

Reports the current size of the plane. Can be overwritten with manually typed values to adjust the size of the cut.

Top

Context menu: Cut plane alignment commands

These commands are accessed through right-clicking the part surface in the 3D view:

Move basepoint here

Moves the basepoint of the plane to the clicked location. The plane remains parallel to its previous orientation.

Move plane parallel here

Moves the plane in a parallel fashion to the clicked location. The plane remains parallel and to its previous orientation.

Align plane parallel to this face

Rotates the plane so that it is parallel to the clicked face

Align plane vertical to this edge

Rotates the plane so that it is vertical to the selected edge

Top

Cutting options

These options appear in the context view and control the outcome of cutting.

Only selected parts

Cuts only selected parts even when the plane or stencil goes through other parts as well

Use plane boundary

Cuts parts only to the extent of the plane boundary, otherwise cuts parts all the way across their bounding boxes regardless of the cut plane's indicated size.

Stitch parts

Connects open triangle edges

Pins

Generates pins and matching holes on the cut structures. These surface features are configurable.

Tonge and groove

Generates a single step along the circumference of the cutting area

Remove original parts

Removes the original parts after the cutting operation

Close cutting area

Generates triangles to close the holes that emerged as a result of the cut

Create group

Puts segments from cutting into groups according to their part origin

Top

Pins: Cylinder

The cylinder-type pin is a cylindrical or conical stub.

General settings
Height (h)

Height of the pin above the surface

Pin spacing (c)

Distance between pins

Min. border distance

Minimum distance between the edges of the surface and the pins

Clearance (d)

Distance between the pin and the hole

Cylinder settings
Holes on both sides

Creates holes on both sides of the cut surface and no matching pins at all. Useful when separate pins or dowels are to be used later.

Top radius (a)

Radius of the top surface of the cylinder

Bottom radius (b)

Radius of the bottom surface of the cylinder

Top

Pins: Hook

The hook-type pin is a pair of hooks that engages with a hole of matching contour and is, ideally, inseparable without destroying the hooks.

General settings
Height (h)

Height of the hook above the surface

Pin spacing (c)

Distance between hook pairs

Min. border distance

Minimum distance between the edges of the surface and the hook pairs

Clearance (d)

Distance between the hook surface and the hole

Hook settings
Depth (b)

Thickness of the hook perpendicular to the hook action

Width (a)

Width of the hook structure without barb

Nose width (e)

How far the hook's barb protrudes

Hook width (g)

Thickness of the hook stem along the hook action

Spacing (f)

Distance between hook stems

Nose height (i)

Total height of the barb

Tip of nose height (k)

Height of the barb's straight section

Top

Tongue and groove

Tongue and groove, normally a feature along boards and panels of straight shape, generates a single matching plug-and-socket arrangement of surface features that follows contours of the cut of arbitrary shape.

Wall thickness (wt)

Thickness of the rim

Gap (g)

Peripheral clearance between the two parts, seen along the parallel to the cut

Height (h)

Width of the nose

Distance (d)

Axial clearance between the parts, seen along the perpendicular to the cut

Tongue-and-groove features to reassemble sections after a cut

Top

Was this information helpful?