Angular shapes with equal distances between them

[THX1138]

I like this angular design shown in this photograph (the window through which you can see the bottle) and would like to do something similar in Inkscape. How can I make these kinds of shapes whilst simultaneously ensuring that the lines between them will all be of equal thickness? I will use the design on a laser cutter (to make a HDD cage rather than a wine bottle holder). Thanks!

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

For cutting (with any kind of cutter) keeping the widths equal will require some manual tweaking.  If you didn't require that the lines be perfectly equal, it could probably be done without the manual tweaking.  It's just the area of the intersections where it won't stay as equal.

Do you need instructions for making the pattern?  (Voronoi pattern?)  Or do you only need help keeping the line widths equal?

[THX1138]

Thanks for your response. I only came to find out how to keep the lines equal width (other than judging by eye) but it would be cool if you knew a quick way to generate the pattern rather than defining the shapes manually.

[brynn]

Generating the pattern should be relatively easy using an extension.

 -- Draw a rectangle the size you want
 -- Path menu > Object to Path
 -- Extensions menu > Generate from Path > Voronoi Pattern (Click the Live Preview button, and you can try out different values in a live way.  When you have a pattern that you like, click the Apply button.)
 -- Object menu > Pattern > Pattern to Object

If you deselect everything at this point, and do Ctrl A (select all) you'll see that you now have the original rectangle, and the pattern (which was just turned to a path).  They're right on top of each other , so you might need to use the status bar to confirm that both are selected.

 -- Object menu > Fill and Stroke > Stroke Style tab > Width  (Make the lines the width you want.)
 -- Path menu > Stroke to Path
 -- Path menu > Union

That should make the lines mostly with equal widths.  But around the intersections, there could be some less than consistent widths.  So you might want to use the Node tool to fine tune those areas a little bit.

Are you already familiar with editing nodes, or do you need some tips?

[THX1138]

Thanks for the guide, Brynn. Unfortunately there are a couple of issues that I think make the product a bit less attractive that the one I'm trying to emulate. Although I can specify an average size, I can't specify the deviation from that average so I end up with several much larger/smaller-than-average shapes and secondly the corners produced by the extension are sharp whilst the one I'm trying to emulate are rounded. It seems to me like the shapes in the photograph are more similar than the ones produced by the Voroni extension and that may be why I find it more appealing. It's cool that Inkscape has this feature but it could do with a few more controls. I might see if I can use a ready-made Voroni pattern available on the Internet. Thanks again for your help.