Once upon a time, there was an online calculator for calculating the parameters for kerf bends – not to be confused with living hinges – scoring deeply through the back of plywood to allow it to bend yet maintaining a smooth outer surface. If you search the forum, you’ll find dozens of links to the same free tool, but it no longer exists.
I’m working to replace some trim pieces around the house and strongly dislike the clunky two-45s-equal-90 approach with traditional trim. I needed a free generator that would allow me to enter the basic design parameters of the required bend zone and output a SVG file with the appropriate score pattern. Five minutes of vibe coding later I had what I needed.
I haven’t shared anything here in FLD in a while, so here you go:
The output looks like this:
You can right click on the image above to download the SVG file, but the point is that you can generate your own to meet your use-case.
You will definitely need to test, test, and retest to get your score settings just so for your material.
Thats a beautiful box. I can see why you are proud of it and wanted to share it. The different wood types also make it special too. Thanks for showing the completed process.
Ok so this isn’t the most precise depth. Veneer thickness can vary quite a bit. I assume that the software is designed around having a set thickness of uncut material, you’d need it to get the geometry right.
This is a case where it may be a bit too analog to get it accurate to a few thousandths of an inch, but it seems like the software has to have an ideal thickness to make the geometry work out. (Or not, maybe it’s just ignoring that and doing a straight inner and outer circumference calculation and rolling with it, counting on the flexibility of the wood to make it work).
Anyway if there is a specific thickness it’d be handy to know.
You can do this in a single test with the appropriate test file.
The vertical lines should be scored at different speeds and consistent power. Range the speed from too slow to cut through all the way to a known setting that will cut. You’ll get scores of varying depths. The outer rectangle is a pure cut, so then you’ll be able to see how deeply your scores went. Should be simple to find one that works.
