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Hingesmith
Studio
Open Studio

Shield living-hinge box

A heater shield with a point at the bottom. Awards, medals, knightly party favors.

Heater shield with a point. The wall is one strip of plywood with a living hinge cut into it, so the whole outline wraps from a flat sheet. Set the size in millimetres, pick a hinge pattern and a lid, watch it fold in 3D, then export the cut file for your laser.

Open the Shield in the Studio See Pro pricing

Pro shape: preview and fold it free, export from $9 a month or $149 once.

Shield box: a 3D render of the laser-cut living-hinge box in Baltic birch with its scored lid drawing

At the suggested size

140 × 160 × 80 mm on 3 mm plywood

These numbers come from the same engine that makes your file, built at the size the Studio suggests with the Straight Lattice hinge. Change the size, stock or pattern and they update live.

parts
6
on 2 sheets of 420 × 297 mm
of cutting
14.5 m
370 hinge cuts
wall length
487 mm
in 2 strips that butt-joint
tightest bend
R10 mm
rounded to suit 3 mm stock
hinge load
89%
of the safe twist limit
lid art
Border
an inset line around the lid
Shield lid as the laser sees it: red cut outline and blue scored lid art
The lid, as the laser sees it. Red is the cut, blue is the scored lid art.
Three lids

Drop-in, Snap-lock, Magnetic Lip. Every lid works with every shape.

Three stocks

3 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm. Hinge spacing and corner radii follow the thickness.

Kerf-compensated

Tabs grow and slots shrink by half your kerf, so parts press-fit without sanding.

Hinge patterns

Hinges that suit a shield

Any of the 21 patterns works on this shape; the cut spacing adapts to each curve of the wall. These four suit the Geometric collection. Each link opens the Shield with that hinge.

Interlocking Hex cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Interlocking HexFree
Mirrored zig-zags
Diamond Lattice cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Diamond LatticePro
Mirrored Vs form diamonds
Battlement cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
BattlementPro
Square-wave castle steps
Stepped Lattice cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Stepped LatticePro
Three-phase stagger

Interlocking Hex: Mirrored zig-zags that lock into a field of hexagons. A honeycomb look on hexagon and round boxes, and a stiffer feel in the hand than straight slots.

Before you cut

From file to finished box

Import the SVG at 1:1, give the blue layer a light score pass and the red layer a full cut, score first, then cut. The guides cover settings by machine and material, assembly, and selling what you make.

More like this

Geometric, and neighbours

Hexagon lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
HexagonFree
Honeycomb cell
Triangle lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
TrianglePro
Three soft corners
Diamond lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
DiamondPro
Rhombus on its point
Pentagon lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
PentagonPro
Five even sides
Octagon lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
OctagonPro
Eight flat faces
Reuleaux lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
ReuleauxPro
Curved constant-width triangle
Gem lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
GemPro
Cut-gem silhouette
Star lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
StarPro
Five rounded points
All shapes in Geometric Browse all 100 shapes

Questions about the shield box

Is the Shield box free to export?

You can design it, change every setting and fold it in 3D for free. Exporting its cut file needs Pro: $9 per month, $59 per year, $149 one-time. The Rounded Box, Curved Cylinder and Hexagon export free, so you can test your laser settings before you buy.

What size can a shield box be?

Anything from 60 to 400 mm across and 30 to 250 mm tall; the suggested size is 140 × 160 mm. Picking the shape keeps your current scale and applies its proportions, then you can set the width and length to the millimetre. Curves need a minimum radius for the hinge to bend (8 mm on 3 mm stock, 10 mm on 4 mm, 15 mm on 6 mm), and the studio warns you if a size is too small for your stock.

Which lasers and software can cut it?

Any laser whose software imports SVG or DXF at 1:1 in millimetres: LightBurn (Omtech, Monport, Ortur, Atomstack, Creality, K40 and most CO₂ and diode machines), xTool Creative Space, Glowforge (SVG), LaserGRBL and Inkscape. The file has a red cut layer, a blue score layer for the lid art and fold marks, and a black sheet boundary.

What material should I cut it from?

3, 4 or 6 mm flat sheet stock. Baltic birch plywood bends best; poplar plywood and MDF work for gentler curves. The hinge spacing is sized for the thickness you pick, and the free bend test strip tells you how far your particular sheet will go.

Can I sell shield boxes I make with it?

Yes. Boxes you cut from your exports are yours to sell, on Etsy, at fairs or anywhere else. What you may not do is resell or share the cut files themselves as a template.

Fold a shield box in your browser

No account, no download to install. The design opens ready to size.

Open the Studio