Frostline Skeleton · coming soon
Every shape has a skeleton.
Cut any 3D model into flat ribs, at any angle you choose. Skeleton slots them so they lock together, lays them out on your sheet, and exports every part true to size as DXF or SVG for your laser, plasma or CNC.
- Any angle, not just X, Y, Z
- 1:1 true size, in mm
- Slots that lock together
- DXF & SVG out
Drag sideways to turn
How it works
From a model
to a pile of parts.
Five steps. The first four happen in Skeleton; the last one happens in your shop.
-
01 / IMPORT
Bring in a model
Open an STL or OBJ. Skeleton reports its size, triangle count and whether it is closed (watertight).
-
02 / SCALE
Set the real size
STL files carry no units. Type one finished dimension in mm or inches and the rest scales with it.
-
03 / PLACE RIBS
Place ribs at any angle
Add evenly spaced rib sets in any direction (an odd count puts one rib dead center), then move one rib, a group, or the whole set. The cut line and flat outline update as you go.
-
04 / EXPORT
Lay out and export
Pick your machine and material sheet. Skeleton checks every part fits, can scale the model to the largest size that fits, and lays the parts out on your sheets. Export true-size DXF and SVG, per part or per sheet.
-
05 / CUT & BUILD
Cut and build
Cut the files on your own machine. Where ribs cross, matching slots sized to your material thickness let them drop together like an egg crate.
The difference
Ribs that go
where the shape goes.
Most slicing runs every rib in the same direction. Antlers, muzzles, horns and tails don't line up that way, so they come out as scraps. In Skeleton you can turn any rib to follow the part it needs to hold.
Every rib the same way
Each rib catches only a sliver of the antler. You get loose scraps that can't hold the shape.
One rib, turned to fit
Tilt and turn a rib until it lies along the antler. One flat part holds the whole thing.
What it does
Built now.
Coming next.
Skeleton is being built in phases and tested on real cuts. Here is what it already does, and what comes after it.
Working now In development builds
Ribs at any angle
Evenly spaced, symmetric rib sets in any direction, or single ribs placed by hand. Move, tilt and turn one rib, a group, or a whole set.
Slots that lock together
Where ribs cross, Skeleton cuts matching slots (one from the top, one from the bottom) sized to your thickness plus a small clearance, and checks the parts can actually be assembled.
See the finished piece
Switch to "All ribs" to see every part as a real plate, assembled, without the model. Loose pieces that no slot holds show up in red before you cut.
Fits your machine
Save your machines and material sheets. Every part gets a fit check, "Scale to fit" finds the largest size that fits, and parts are laid out on as few sheets as possible.
True-size DXF and SVG
Closed cut outlines at 1:1 in millimeters, per part or per sheet, with an optional label layer.
Kerf your way
Exports at true size by default, because most laser software adds kerf itself. Set an offset if yours doesn't.
Thickness and projects
Record your material thickness and save the whole setup (model, size, ribs) as a small project file.
Coming Later phases
Shop checks
A findings list for fabricators: loose pieces, parts that would collide, bridges too thin to cut, slots too close to an edge.
Bridge ribs
Click a loose piece and a solid rib, and Skeleton designs a connecting rib at whatever angle it takes.
Ribs that place themselves
Skeleton turns and shifts ribs to catch antlers, muzzles and other thin details. Ribs you lock stay where you put them.
Tighter nesting
True-shape nesting that fits parts into each other’s gaps to save even more material.
More ways to build
Solid stacked layers, curved and radial ribs, material and machine presets, and a Mac version.
Roadmap
Built one layer
at a time.
Like the parts it makes, Skeleton is stacked up in layers. The first three are built and being tested on real cuts; the rest come after.
- Phase 1Any-angle ribs and true-size DXF / SVGBuilt
- Phase 2Evenly spaced rib sets at any angleBuilt
- Phase 3Slots sized to your material, sheet fit and layoutBuilt · testing
- Phase 4Ribs that place themselves around the detailsPlanned
- Phase 5True-shape nesting and production filesPlanned
- Phase 6Advanced build stylesPlanned
For the shop
Made by a fabricator.
Skeleton comes from a working metal shop in Maine, not a software lab. It hands you plain DXF and SVG files that your cutting software already opens.
Machines
Materials
Skeleton makes cut files. It doesn't rate how strong a finished piece will be.
The Frostline family
Same shop.
A different cut.
Frostline Trace turns pictures into cut paths. Frostline Skeleton turns 3D models into flat parts. Same shop, same focus on speed, made by the same people.