Warning
MillMage is in active development and in a prerelease state. Many operations and functions are not feature complete. Please report any unexpected behavior by searching for and reporting the issue or question in the MillMage Beta User Forum. Please include screenshots and as much detail as possible.
Beta Users: Finding Help
Find help and download the latest release candidate of MillMage in the MillMage Beta User Forum.
Users new to MillMage should follow the Getting Started guide.
Warning
This documentation is in active development and in a prerelease state. These documents are not complete and may include missing pages, broken links, and placeholders. Content is being updated as feedback is reviewed. Your patience is appreciated.
Add Tabs
Quick Reference: Add Tabs
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Tells your CNC machine to skip small sections of cuts, to prevent cut objects from immediately falling from the base material.
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Location
Tools → Add Tabs
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Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows: Ctrl+Tab Mac: Cmd+Tab
Tabs are small sections of cuts that the machine is commanded to skip, used to prevent objects from coming free from the base material during cutting.
Warning
Proper use of tabs is essential for preventing objects from flying out of your material at high speeds, resulting in damage to your project, machine, or self.
When sized appropriately, the tabs can be broken with minimal force and the objects removed from the material after the job is finished cutting. You may need to use a wood chisel to remove the tabs, or to sand down remnants of the tabs after removal.
You can create tabs manually using the Add Tabs tool, or MillMage can generate them automatically using the Tab Wizard found in the Operations Window.
Options controlling the Size, Height, and Type of tabs are available in the Operations Editor.
In the example below, the left square has no tabs applied, while the right has a single 5 mm wide tab on each side.
Adding Tabs Manually¶
To manually add tabs, select Add Tabs from the Tools Toolbar (or press Ctrl / Cmd+Tab), then hover over any shape in your Workspace.
When you're hovering over a shape, you'll see the Insert Tab cursor (
). Click to insert a tab at that location. A red dot will appear on the shape, indicating that the tab has been placed.
Click and drag the red dot to move its location on the shape, or even to another valid shape in your Workspace.
The default width of manually-placed tabs is 5 mm. Tabs cannot be placed closer together than is allowed by their width. See the next section for information on adjusting tab width.
To remove an existing tab, double-click the red dot, or hold the Shift key while clicking it.
Automatic Tab Generation¶
To automatically add tabs to selected shapes using the Tab Wizard, click the Add Tabs button in the Operations Window.
Automatic tabs will appear on your selected shapes as green dots, and their amount and location will change as you make adjustments in the Tab Wizard.
Click Apply tabs to add the tabs to your shape in the current location, or Cancel to discard the changes and not add the tabs.
After applying automtically generated tabs, you can manually adjust their placement by enabling the Add Tabs tool.
Tab Wizard Settings¶
Even Spacing¶
With Even Spacing selected, each selected contiguous path will have at least one tab applied at the very start of the path and then again at the distance interval set in the Spacing field, up to the maximum number of evenly spaced tabs that can fit within the path.
Spacing is set in the currently configured system unit type (mm or inch).
Min Tabs¶
The Min Tabs field determines the minimum number of tabs MillMage will place on each path. If necessary to meet the defined minimum, MillMage will place tabs closer together than the distance specified in the Spacing field.
Limit Max Tabs¶
Enable Limit Max Tabs to set an upper bound on how many tabs can be automatically generated for each path, when using Even Spacing.
Tabs Per Shape¶
Select the Tabs Per Shape option to specify the number of tabs to create on each selected path.
When Tabs Per Shape is enabled, the Min Tabs field becomes the Tab Count field instead. MillMage takes the total perimeter length of each selected path and divides it into a number of segments defined as Tab Count + 1, then places the tabs where those segments meet.
Tabs will be automatically spaced evenly along the path. The start point, where the first tab is placed, is shifted by half a segment length, to keep tabs evenly placed along closed shapes.
Skip Inner Shapes¶
When enabled, any shapes that are completely contained by another shape in the same cut layer will not have Automatic tabs applied. This does not affect Manual tab placement.
Warning
Containing shapes must be closed, continuous loops in order for MillMage to identify shapes within them. See Open vs. Closed Shapes for more information.
Per-Operation Tab Settings¶
After placing tabs either manually or automatically, you must also enable Tabs / Bridges in the settings of any Operation containing the shapes you added the tabs to.
Double-click an Operation set to Profile, Chamfer, or Male Inlay in the Operations Window to open the Operation Settings Editor.
Tab settings are available in the lower right of the Operation Settings Editor.
Enable / Disable¶
The switch next to Tabs / Bridges controls whether tabs are enabled for the layer.
Switch Tabs / Bridges off to disable tabs. Tab settings and placement are not lost when this switch is turned off, and are restored exactly as they were if it is switched on again.
Tab Type¶
Use the Tab Type dropdown menu to select from one of three options.
Full Retract¶
Tells your router to lift back above the surface of your material when skipping over tabs. This results in tabs that are completely untouched by the router, and flush with the surface of the material.
Partial Retract¶
Allows you to specify a Tab Height for your tabs. Your router will continue carving all of your material until it reaches the specified height. After that height, when the router reaches parts of a path designated for tabs, it will retract to the specified Tab Height and then skip over tabs.
For example, if your stock is 10 mm thick, and you set a Tab Height of 5 mm, your router will engrave 5 mm of material above each tab, then skip the tabs for the last 5 mm of depth.
Ramp¶
Works similarly to Partial Retract, but instead of retracting to the specified Tab Height when it reaches a tab, your router will continue carving at an angle, moving upward until it reaches the Tab Height.
The angle of the Ramp is determined by the relationship between Tab Size and Tab Height. Longer tabs and lower heights can accommodate more gradual angles than shorter tabs and greater heights.
Tab Size¶
Tab Size defines the total length of each tab, in the currently configured system unit type (mm or inch). The router will skip carving for this distance.
Tab Height¶
Tab Height is only available when Tab Type is set to Partial Retract or Ramp.
See above for more information on the interaction of this setting with those Tab Types.
Related Topics¶
For more help using MillMage, please visit our forum to talk with MillMage staff and users, or email support.