Arch Panel Cut

Description

This tool creates, in the 3D document, a flat, 2D view of an Arch Panel, to be included in an Arch Panel Sheet or directly exported to DXF.

How to use

1. Select one or more Arch Panel objects
2. Press the Arch Panel Cut button, or press P then C keys
3. Adjust the desired properties

Options

• If the panel is not flat (corrugated, for example), the relief won't appear in the Panel cut. This tool is useful mainly for flat panels
• The panel cut can display a tag. This tag can be a custom line of text or can automatically show the Tag, Label or Description of its linked Panel.
• To be useful for CNC machining, the tag should be written using a sticky font, where letters are simple polylines that are easy for the machine to follow. Upon creation, the Panel Cut object will automatically use the font specified in Edit → Preferences → Draft → Texts and Dimensions → ShapeString Font
• Double-clicking on the panel cut in the tree view after it is created allows you to enter edit mode and modify the position of the tag
• When you need to layout different Panel Cuts together, Panel Cuts can display a margin, that is useful to make sure a certain space is always present between a cut and another

Properties

• DATASource: The Arch Panel object shown by this Cut
• DATATag Text: The text to display. Can be %tag%, %label% or %description% to display the panel tag or label
• DATATag Size: The size of the tag text
• DATATag Position: The position of the tag text. Keep (0,0,0) for automatic center position
• DATATag Rotation: The rotation of the tag text
• DATAFont File: The font of the tag text
• VIEWMargin: A margin that can be displayed outside the panel cut shape
• VIEWShow Margin: Turns the display of the margin on/off
• DATAMake Face: If True, the panel is a Part Face, otherwise a Part Wire

Scripting

The Panel tool can by used in macros and from the python console by using the following function:

makePanelCut (object) 

Example:

import Arch,Draft
base = Draft.makeRectangle(500,200)
panel = Arch.makePanel(base,thickness=36)
Arch.makePanelCut(panel) 

Tutorials

• Wikihouse porting tutorial