Getting around

Material, thickness and kerf

Pick a material preset, then measure your real sheet thickness and your laser's kerf.

Material presets fill in a typical thickness and kerf, and pick how the 3D view looks (plywood, MDF, card or acrylic). Changing either number switches the preset to Custom.

Measure your thickness

Measure the sheet with calipers in a few places. Sheet sold as 3 mm is often 2.7 to 3.2 mm, and slots cut for the wrong thickness are loose or will not close.

Measure your kerf

Cut a 20 mm square and measure it with calipers: kerf is 20 minus the measured size, so a 19.84 mm square means a 0.16 mm kerf.
HingeLab offsets every outline by half the kerf, so parts come out at their true size and joints fit.

Separate X and Y kerf

Some machines cut wider along one axis. Tick Separate X and Y kerf and enter both: Kerf X is across cuts that run up and down the sheet, Kerf Y across cuts that run left to right. Measure the 20 mm square across both ways to find them.

My materials

Manage materials… at the bottom of the material list keeps your own sheets: thickness, kerf X and Y, the narrowest feature it holds and what it bends like.
Add your own tested speed, power and passes for cut, score and engrave: a LightBurn export then carries them. HingeLab never suggests laser settings.
Your materials stay on this device. Export them as a file to use them on another computer.

Options

Thick0.5 mm or more · step 0.1 mm: The measured thickness of your sheet. Measure it with calipers: sheet sold as 3 mm is often 2.7 to 3.2 mm, and every slot, tab and hinge bar follows this number.
Kerf0 mm or more · step 0.01 mm: The width of the line the laser burns away. Outlines are offset by half of it so parts come out at their true size; measure it with a kerf test and enter it here.
Kerf Y0 to 5 mm · step 0.01 mm: The kerf across cuts that run left to right, for a machine that cuts wider on one axis. Measure a cut 20 mm square across both ways; Kerf is then the kerf across cuts that run up and down.
Min feature0 to 50 mm · step 0.1 mm: The narrowest bar your material holds without breaking or burning away. Auto-fit keeps hinge bars at least this wide; 0 uses the usual minimum.