In chapter 5 lesson 2, Jake explains how the cutting process impacts your part’s geometry and what design rules help keep your parts manufacturable. Building on the previous lesson about how lasers and routers cut material, he focuses on how heat, energy, and tool size determine the minimum features your design can have.

Jake reviews important concepts like kerf and heat-affected zone, then introduces two new terms: hole-to-edge distance and bridge distance. These define how close holes, slots, and edges can be before heat or tool pressure causes distortion or burnout, similar to blowing a fuse. He explains how SendCutSend determines safe minimums for these features through real-world testing and provides a simple rule of thumb:

• Keep holes and bridge gaps at least 50% of the material thickness for reliable results.

Jake also touches on floating geometry (like the centers of letters “O” or “A”) and how to use bridges to hold these features, as well as warping, which can occur when too much material is removed.

By understanding these limits, you’ll design parts that cut cleanly, stay flat, and pass DFM checks without revision.

What You’ll Learn:

• How cutting affects part geometry and feature size
• The meaning and importance of kerf, heat-affected zone, hole-to-edge, and bridge distance
• Simple design rules for minimum holes and bridge gaps
• How SendCutSend determines DFM-safe dimensions
• When to reference material-specific guidelines for accuracy
• How floating geometry and warping occur and how to avoid them