feature request: add option to cut bins into pieces

[elmcrest]

Hey,

first of all thx for this plugin - really great tool.

I am now in the situation, that I'd need a longer bin that my printer can print. so I thought why not print two parts each with an open side and glue (or whatever) them together afterwards.

Therefore my feature request would be to either provide an option to cut bins into pieces with a given diver unit maybe - or provide an option to generate bin with one or multiple open sides.

Let me know what you think and greetings.

[Le0Michine]

I haven't really tried to print anything larger than 5x5, is that something doable with a simple plane cut?

[elmcrest]

Well, my fusion 360 skills are still too weak to manually cut the generated body at the right spot. I would assume the correct spot to cut is in the middle of two segments of the base plate… But otherwise I‘d expect it should work - given the glue is applied correctly. but maybe that’s something I should try upfront, right? I‘ve tried to cut it but I couldn’t manage to precisely find the right spot I‘m afraid. but this again was leading then to this PR since I‘ve assumed that’s a more common use case - but I could be wrong of course…

[Le0Michine]

If that helps, for simple cuts with plane I would recommend using tool "offset plane" with offset from an outer wall which can be calculated as baseWidth * numberOfBases - xyTolerance. If you have even number of bases then "midplane" would be easier as it would automatically put a construction plane in the middle. Then use "split body" tool to make the cut.

Although I'm a bit concerned about gluing it back together after printing, there won't be large area available for that (for bin with no compartments). So it might actually require adding some sort of tabs to allow for better glue adhesion or even reinforcing pins. Need to think about it

[tache]

Hey, I did this as well. What was cool was that I had an extra 36mm space in the back of a drawer that I wanted to have a long bin. I was able to use this awesome tool to generate three 5x1 grids at a base width unit size of 36mm. I then generated a 1x15 hollow bin at base width unit and base width length at 36mm as well. Next, I created a new sketch with two offset planes at the bin's bottom, using the bottom-most edge of a base as a reference line. Then I used the Split function to cut the bin into three. Exported, then printed.

[ForceConstant]

Similarly would like to have a way to automatically split a baseplate.

[therick0996]

the baseplates are intentionally designed to be able to print in multiple sizes, and butt them together. there's no need to split a baseplate

[tache]

IMHO, best to use a slicer for that objective. The prusaslicer can automatically generate connectors that are very helpful. But therick correctly points out the design of the grid.

[Aasikki]

the baseplates are intentionally designed to be able to print in multiple sizes, and butt them together. there's no need to split a baseplate

That is true but I'm extremely lazy and think it would be helpful to have a tool that automatically spits out baseplates based on drawer dimensions + printer bed dimensions (in as big segments as the bed fits). No idea how to implement that though.