When you are cutting out a design entirely from your material, there is a risk that your design will break free and become damaged by the bit. Tabs act as small bridges between your cutout design and the stock material around it.
By adding tabs, your cutout shape remains securely connected to the clamped material. This prevents the shape from coming loose and being damaged by the bit when the bit retracts from the material.
Adding and adjusting tabs
Tabs are automatically added by Easel if you set the cut depth of an outline shape to be the same as the thickness of your material. The tabs appear in the design frame of Easel as light yellow marks (1) in the cut outline of your project.
Easel will default to the recommended tab settings for your project. You can adjust the Length, Height and Quantity of tabs (3) in the Cut menu that appears when you select your object. You can use up to 32 tabs on one shape.
The tabs also show in the 3D preview as small bridges across the cut (1).
Moving tabs
If the tabs appear along an edge that isn't ideal for finishing, you can click and drag the yellow tabs to a different place on your project. Try to keep the tabs in places that will be easy to reach when sawing the piece loose from the stock material. You should also consider how difficult it will be to sand the tabs down when your project is separated from the stock material. We recommend avoiding corners and rounded edges; try keeping tabs on smooth, straight sections on your project.
Removing tabs
You can also choose to remove tabs by unselecting the Use Tabs checkbox (2) in the Cut menu.
| Important: If you choose to remove tabs from your design in Easel, please keep in mind that your piece may be damaged when it breaks free from the stock material around it, unless you have a way to secure it to your wasteboard. |
| Helpful Tip: Although we recommend using tabs, some customers have success using double-sided tape to secure their material in place when fully cutting out a shape. |
Tabs in 3D (Easel Pro)
When doing a Full Depth Cutout, Easel can add tabs automatically to keep the piece in place. If you unselect this option, make sure the piece is still clamped down and won't move when cut out.
When utilizing a full-depth cutout as the cut style, you can select the edit button next to Use Tabs to adjust the positioning of the tabs. This allows you to keep tabs away from hard-to-reach areas like corners or delicate areas of the relief. The tab quantity and dimensions for 3D projects will continue to be calculated by Easel.
In the toolpath view, a tab shows as a spot where the toolpath steps up and leaves a bridge of material (1).