What are Assembly Groups

Working with a project containing many parts, such as a bookcase with 76 individual pieces, can make it difficult to understand the function and placement of each component. For instance, identifying which parts belong to the frame, drawers, or doors isn't immediately obvious from the part names alone. This is where Assembly Groups become invaluable.

Assembly Groups provide a way to organize parts within a project, improving visualization and understanding. In the bookcase example, you could create groups such as "Frame," "Drawers," and "Doors." As you add or modify parts, you assign them to the appropriate group. This clarifies the project structure; for instance, the "Frame" group might contain 34 parts, "Drawers" 18, and "Doors" 24, out of a total of 76 parts.

The benefits of Assembly Groups extend beyond the parts list. They also enhance the clarity of cut lists by color-coding parts according to their group assignment. This makes it significantly easier to identify the usage of each part within the overall project.

Create

You can create an Assembly Group in two ways. The first method involves typing the group name directly into the Parts dialog. As you type, the dialog will offer suggestions based on existing groups. If the group name you enter is new, the system will create it automatically.

Alternatively, you can create an Assembly Group by clicking the "Groups" button, then selecting "Add Group." Enter the desired group name and confirm by clicking the checkmark button

Rename/Delete

To rename or delete an Assembly Group, click the "Groups" button, select the target group, and then use the appropriate button to rename or delete it.

Assign a part to a group

In the Parts dialog, type the name of the desired group. The edit box will offer suggestions from existing groups as you type. Offcuts will create the group if it doesn't already exist.

Project Parts

The Part screen is where you input the parts for your project.

Add a part

Click on the Add button

Edit a part

To edit an existing part, double-click it, or select it and either click the Edit button in the toolbar or right-click and choose Edit.

Banding

Banding involves adding a veneer strip to the edge of plywood. Offcuts has several pre-configured veneer banding options, but you're not limited to those. If you need a different material, go to the Inventory tab, select Banding, and add what you require.

When you choose a banding material, the selection shows a name followed by "T:" and a number. For example, "Walnut - T:0.0" indicates walnut with a thickness of 0. If the banding were 1/4" thick, it would read "Walnut - T:0.25"

After choosing your banding material, select the edges you want banded. The Cut Dimensions box will then show the actual cut length and width.

On your cut list, materials requiring banding will have a red edge.

The "Banding" column on the part screen indicates which parts have banding and the type of banding used. For example, a self-support part might show "Pine banding" with banding on one length edge and both width edges.

Filter Groups

Offcuts allows you to create customized cut lists using the Filter Groups function. When all groups are visible, the cut list includes all parts. Hiding one or more assembly groups will result in a cut list containing only the parts from the visible groups. This is especially useful for projects with size variations depending on customer requests; simply enable the groups matching the customer's specifications to generate the appropriate cut list.

Multiple Edit/Delete

To edit or delete multiple parts simultaneously, you can select them by shift-clicking or Ctrl-clicking individual parts.

To delete the selected parts, simply click the Delete button

When editing multiple parts, the description field cannot be changed, as it must remain unique for each part. If the selected parts share the same value for a particular attribute, the dialog will display that shared value. However, if the values differ among the selected parts, the corresponding edit controls will be blank. For example, Length and Width will not be displayed if these values are different for each selected par.

In this example, we want to set the thickness of the selected parts to 0.25 inches and disregard the grain direction.

The three parts now reflect the changes.

Duplicating parts

Select the part you wish to duplicate and click the Duplicate button, or right-click and select Duplicate.

Deleting parts

Select the part you wish to delete and click the Delete button, or right-click and select Delete.

Sorting Columns

Click the column heading to sort the data. Clicking multiple times will cycle through ascending, descending, and natural order.

Renumber Parts

In this example, the parts are not in sequential order. This can happen if parts have been deleted or reassigned to a different group. To renumber the parts, click the Renumber button.

What is Ignore Grain?

Not all parts in your project require grain direction alignment. Selecting "Ignore Grain" allows Offcuts to rotate parts when generating a cutting list, potentially optimizing the layout and minimizing waste.

What is the warning icon and why are the length and width red?

The warning icon and red text appear when Offcuts cannot find any material in your inventory large enough to cut the required parts. Please check the inventory tab to ensure the material still exists and that you have added a sufficiently sized piece to accommodate the parts.