The L Cut is two straight cuts meeting at a right angle – a cut along one axis, then a cut along the other. It is used both as a plain geometric primitive and as a plate stripping cut, where the two cuts sever a rectangle from a plate.
It appears in the shapes library under Basic Shapes, Primitives and Tools.
Parameters
X Cut the length of the leg that runs along X. Negative values are allowed.
Y Cut the length of the leg that runs along Y. Negative values are allowed.
Cut Order which leg is cut first. This moves the corner only – both orders start at the insert point and finish at the same far end.
•Y first, then X puts the corner directly above or below the insert point.
•X first, then Y puts the corner directly left or right of the insert point.
Origin which corner of the shape sits on the insert point. Cut start leaves the shape beginning at the insert point; the four corner settings – Bottom left, Bottom right, Top left and Top right – move the whole shape so that corner of its bounding box lands there instead.
Y first then X: Cut will start at bottom as shown and cut Y first then X.
Origin set to Bottom Right to aid plate stripping.
Negative dimensions
Because X Cut and Y Cut both accept negative values, the L can be pointed into any of the four quadrants without rotating it. A negative X Cut runs the cut to the left of the insert point; a negative Y Cut runs it downwards.
If one of the two legs is set to zero the shape collapses to a single straight cut.
Stripping a plate
The Origin setting is what makes the L Cut convenient for stripping. Set X Cut and Y Cut to the size of the rectangle you want to remove, then set Origin to the corner of the plate you are cutting away from – the shape hangs off that point, and the rectangle it severs is the bounding box of the cut.
For example, to strip a 100 x 100 rectangle off the bottom right corner of a plate, set X Cut and Y Cut to 100 and Origin to Bottom right, then place the shape on that corner of the plate.
Both cuts are a single open path, so the severed piece falls away in one cut rather than two separate ones.