An edge bevel is an angled cut of the part's edge. It is used to form a mitre for joining parts, a worktop overhang or a decorative edge. A bevel can be set in two ways: as a separate «Edge bevel» operation and as one of the edge processing types.
Bevel as a separate operation
The «Edge bevel» operation is opened from the part's operations menu and is set up for all four sides at once — top, bottom, left, right. Three parameters are set for each side.
Offset
The offset is how far the bevel is shifted from the edge through the thickness. A value from 0 to half the part's thickness: at 0 the bevel goes from the very edge, at a larger value a flat strip of the edge remains.
Angle
The bevel angle. If a list of allowed angles is set at the production, the angle is picked from it (in both directions — with a «plus» and a «minus» sign). If there is no list, the angle is entered manually in the range from −45 to 45°. The sign of the angle sets the direction of the slope — a bevel icon is shown next to the field and flips depending on the sign.
Edge band
An edge band can be chosen for the bevel. The list keeps only the bands that cover the slope line by height (it depends on the part's thickness, the offset and the angle, plus the production's technological gap). For glass an edge band is not offered.
Bevel as an edge processing type
A bevel is also available inside the common edge processing form as the «Edge bevel» type (see the article «Edge processing: types and common form»). Here the bevel has two ways of being set — a «Custom» / «Standard» switch.
Standard
A ready-made bevel is chosen from the production library — like a regular edge processing, with a picture preview.
Custom
The bevel is set manually by three parameters:
- Side — from which side the bevel goes: Front or Back (the side sets the direction of the slope, the bevel icon flips);
- Offset — the shift from the edge, no more than half the part's thickness;
- Angle — from 5 to 45°.
For a custom bevel an edge band can also be chosen for the resulting slanted surface.
How the two ways differ
The separate operation is handy when you need to quickly set the same bevel across the part's sides: the angle is entered freely in the ±45° range (or from the production list). The «Edge bevel» type in edge processing is part of the unified processing form and allows, besides a custom bevel (angle 5–45°), taking a ready standard bevel from the library.
If the firm has switched off cut banding
The firm settings have a switch «Enable end-cut edge banding». Many shops never actually glue edging onto the slanted face of a cut, yet the manager still saw the band list and picked an edge — an extra line and extra money ended up in the order.
With the switch off, the edge picker for a free-form cut disappears everywhere it used to be: in the «Cut» operation card, in the edge machining panel, in the pocket form and in group machining. Any edging already set on free-form cuts is cleared, while the angle and the offset stay as they were. Cuts from the end-machining catalogue and edging on inset handles are not affected by the switch. Banding is enabled by default, so nothing changes for those who are happy with the current behaviour. The setting is changed by the firm administrator.