Pendant lamp shades
Basswood or veneer plywood with an auxetic lattice follows a dome; light passes through the cuts.
Living hinge generator →Auxetic Living Hinge Laser Cut File
Rotating-cell cuts that let a flat sheet stretch in two directions, so it can follow a dome or a lamp shade. The 3D view switches to a dome and the R_min check tells you how tight the curve can go before the links overload.
Lattice cut length · bridge · row spacing
Fills row spacing 0.6t, cut length 5t + 5 (12–60 mm) and bridge 0.8t from the thickness.
Panel size · legs · margin
- Bend zone W
- 170.69 mm
- Corner zone W90
- Wrap strip
- Pattern open area
- Web
- R_min estimate
- 28.9 mm
- Bend check
- Safe
Inner cuts · 1stBend guides · no cutOutline · last
Too tight.
Links too thin.
Web too thin.
Cast acrylic is brittle. Acrylic living hinges crack after a few bends; use it for flat vent panels, or cut a swatch before any hinge.
Very dense. The preview draws the first 120,000 cut-outs; the numbers count every one.
Proof preview · not a cut file
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Proof saved. The cut-ready version of this design is in the Pro pack below.
Readout
- Panel open area
- Flat panel
- 180.69 × 180.00 mm
- Slit rows
- 86 rows
- Hinge zones
- Top + bottom plates
- Net link
- 1.85 mm
- Min link
- 0.90 mm
- Cut-outs
- Hole range
- Total cut length
- 16.10 m
R_min, laser time and open area are estimates from the torsion and area models. Confirm the bend with the 5-strip swatch before a full cut.
Pro pack · built for the design above
Production Laser DXF/SVG & 3D STEP CAD Pack
Layered, de-duplicated, cut-ordered DXF R12 and LightBurn SVG with correct kerf handling, a STEP + STL solid of this hinge, and a 5-step swatch that follows your own design.
| You get | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Every pattern, live 2D/3D, W, R_min, open area | Yes | Yes |
| Proof PNG (≤ 1000 px) + formula TXT | Yes | Yes |
| Kerf-compensated DXF R12 + LightBurn SVG | — | Yes |
| STEP AP214 + binary STL solid | — | Yes |
| 1:1 swatch + datasheet PDF | — | Yes |
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Ready-made designs
Domes, bowls and sleeves
Click one to load it into the studio above; every value stays editable.
How to use it
Four steps from sheet to cut file
No Generate button: every step redraws the 2D path, the 3D bend and the numbers at once.
- 01Load the lamp shade presetIt starts with 3 mm basswood at R 80 mm and 120°, drawn as a dome in the 3D view.
- 02Set the dome radiusR is the radius of the curve you want to follow; W tells you how much sheet the curve uses.
- 03Compare with cross-linkSwitch to Cross-Link for a springy single-axis sleeve and watch R_min drop.
- 04Cut the swatch firstAuxetic lattices vary most between sheets; the 5-strip swatch confirms the radius.
Mechanism
Why auxetic cells allow double curvature
A straight-slit hinge bends around one axis: the links twist, but the sheet cannot stretch sideways, so a dome makes it buckle. In the auxetic layout short cross cuts sit in every bridge, so the solid between cuts forms small squares joined at their corners. Pull the sheet and the squares rotate, opening the cuts in both directions at once.
The price is stiffness in a plain bend: the corner joints carry the load, so the model gives auxetic an η of 0.70. Use the dome view to judge the shape and the R_min line to check the tightest radius along either direction.
Compare
Auxetic vs cross-link vs straight
Same 3 mm basswood lattice: 2.0 mm rows, 16 mm cuts, 1.5 mm bridges.
| Pattern | η | Curvature | R_min estimate | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auxetic | 0.70 | Double (dome, saddle) | 28.9 mm | Lamp shades, domes |
| Cross-Link | 1.10 | Single, both directions | 17.8 mm | Sleeves, soft wraps |
| Straight Slit | 1.00 | Single | 19.8 mm | Box corners, book spines |
| Sinusoidal Wave | 1.15 | Single | 17.0 mm | 180° spines, cylinder wraps |
Choose auxetic only when the part must curve two ways. For a cylinder, a sleeve or a cone, cross-link or wave bends tighter on the same lattice and feels springier in the hand.
Materials
Which sheet to use
| Material | γ (allowed strain) | Auxetic R_min | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltic birch plywood | 0.020 | 35.0 mm | Firm, good for bowls |
| Basswood plywood | 0.024 | 28.9 mm | Best for shades and domes |
| MDF | 0.012 | 59.3 mm | Short fibres tear at small cells |
| Cast acrylic | 0.008 | 89.6 mm | Brittle: cracks at cell corners |
Cast acrylic is flagged as brittle in the studio: its allowed strain is less than half of birch, and the small cells concentrate stress at their corners. For a glowing acrylic panel, use a gradient hex array on the perforated panel page instead.
Where it fits
Use cases and related tools
Real jobs makers cut with these numbers, and the tool page that fits each one.
Bowls and dome caps
At R 120 mm and 90° the auxetic preset uses a 190.85 mm wide sheet for a shallow cap.
Hinge box for straight walls →Light panels with holes
For a flat glowing panel, a gradient hex array is easier to cut than a lattice.
Gradient perforated panel →Check a radius before cutting
Work out W and the minimum radius for any sheet with the formula explained step by step.
Kerf bending calculator →Send the file to the laser
Layer colours, cut order and import settings for LightBurn, Glowforge, xTool, RDWorks and VCarve.
DXF & SVG guide →Compare every pattern
See all 12 hinge and vent patterns with their flexibility or open-area formula before you choose.
Pattern library →Questions
Frequently asked questions
R_min values are estimates from the torsion model; confirm with a test cut.
What makes an auxetic living hinge different?
Auxetic cells rotate when the sheet is stretched, so the material grows in both directions instead of thinning. That lets one flat sheet cover a dome or a saddle, which straight slits cannot do because they only bend around one axis.
Why does auxetic have a larger R_min than straight slits?
In a single bend the rotating cells resist more than long straight links, so this model gives auxetic a flex factor η of 0.70 against 1.00 for straight. On the 3 mm birch honeycomb preset that moves R_min from 15.5 mm (straight) to 22.7 mm (auxetic).
Which material suits an auxetic lamp shade?
Basswood plywood and thin veneer ply are the forgiving choices: basswood allows about 20% more strain than Baltic birch in this model. MDF tears at the small cells, and cast acrylic is flagged as brittle; it cracks at the cell corners.
Is the dome view an exact shape of the cut part?
No. The dome preview wraps the flat pattern onto a sphere of radius R + t/2 so you can judge proportions. Real auxetic sheets settle into their own double curve; the STEP bent envelope shows the single-axis bend.
When should I use cross-link instead?
Use Cross-Link when the part wraps around a cylinder and should feel springy, like a sleeve. Its flex factor is 1.10, so the cross-link sleeve preset reaches R 60 at 180° with an R_min estimate of 13.9 mm.
Same engine
The rest of the toolkit
Every tool shares one geometry engine, so numbers match between pages and files.