Prepare your material

Choose the sheet and measure its thickness when you set up the project. Once you have chosen a layout, a small test cut helps tune the joints. The material settings in game.bgi.yaml affect both its dimensions and its cut paths.

Choose the sheet

Set material.profile to a profile close to the sheet you intend to use. BGI includes profiles for MDF, poplar plywood, cellulose board, finnboard, and custom foam board. Profiles supply starting values for joints and minimum features, but require your thickness and kerf values. The project-file reference lists profile IDs and material fields.

Measure the actual sheet thickness in several places. Thickness changes the space occupied by walls and the shape of joints, so enter your measured value before requesting layouts. If it differs from the value used for your saved candidate, update the YAML and request layouts again, then choose a new candidate.

These are the material fields you may need in game.bgi.yaml:

material:
  profile: de-mdf-3mm
  overrides:
    thickness_mm: 3.0
    kerf_mm: 0.16
    fit_clearance_mm: 0.10

thickness_mm is the measured sheet thickness. kerf_mm is the width removed by the laser cut. fit_clearance_mm changes the space around a tab in its receiving slot. The glossary explains these terms in more detail. BGI takes each value from the profile unless you override it in the project; a CLI override affects only that run.

Make a test cut

Use the same sheet and machine settings you intend for the insert. This command creates a small test of cut width and tab fit:

bgi calibrate game.bgi.yaml --output calibration

Read calibration/measurements.md first. Import calibration/bgi-calibration-cut.svg into your cutting software at 100% in millimetres and cut it. Use calibration/bgi-calibration-guide.svg to identify the features. Measure the 20 × 20 mm opening in both directions and try the tab in each slot. Record the sheet thickness, measured opening, and fit that works in measurements.md or your own notes.

Put the measured thickness, kerf, and chosen fit clearance into material.overrides in game.bgi.yaml. If thickness or fit clearance changes, request layouts again because panel and joint geometry can change. If only kerf changes, rebuild your chosen saved candidate in a new bundle directory: kerf changes the cut paths for that geometry. The CLI reference covers temporary overrides and diagnostic commands.

Continue with cutting and assembly once the test joint fits.