How strip light groove depth is set and checked
Learn how a strip-light SKU's groove depth decides whether a panel is grooved, how deep, and how to verify the result in CAM output.
Whether a panel-mounted strip light cuts a groove is decided by the strip-light SKU in the catalog, not by anything in the design: the SKU additional property groove_depth (mm). Zero or absent means the light sits proud on the panel face — no groove, no machining operation. Non-zero means the light is sunk into the panel by exactly that depth (its position shifts into the panel thickness) and the panel is registered for a cut; the groove that reaches CAM equals the strip's full envelope, including any length extensions the designer applied — extend the strip and the groove follows. The related SKU property additional_length makes the light (and therefore the groove) longer or shorter than the panel's edge-to-edge measurement, so a groove slightly shorter than the panel is often authored intent, not an error; the Inset Midpoint length mode shortens it further on internal faces. Support flow for 'no groove in output': (1) check groove_depth on the strip-light SKU in catalog admin; (2) confirm the strip light is a panel-level strip light attached to that panel; (3) after catalog changes, re-run the design — SKU properties are read during recalculation. The Internal/External side choice flips automatically on orientation-reversed panels so the groove lands on the physically correct face.
Grooving for a strip light is generated from the strip light or profile SKU used, so the groove markings appear in the cutout/CAM output for the panel it is attached to.
The resulting groove can be checked in the 2D panel CAM drawing, where the groove depth shown equals the entered groove depth plus the additional depth tolerance set in CAM preferences.
On L-shaped or pentagonal corner-unit panels, one 'strip light' is actually two perpendicular strip lights forming the L, linked so property changes on the visible one mirror to its sibling (Extension Parameters are the exception — they apply per leg). To avoid doubled thickness at the inside corner, the second leg's visible body deliberately stops short of the junction by the strip's own depth. The groove cut, however, is deliberately extended back to the junction — otherwise an uncut sliver of panel would remain where the two legs meet. So in CAM/MES output the groove for the second leg is LONGER than that strip light's body by exactly the strip's depth. This is intentional, not a data mismatch. Only the second leg carries this overhang; rectangular and triangular panels never do, and the first leg's groove matches its body. If a factory reports 'the groove is longer than the LED profile' at an L-corner, confirm it is the junction end and that the extra length equals the strip's depth — then reassure. The inverse symptom (an uncut ridge left at the corner where the two grooves should meet) is a real defect: escalate with the panel's shape type and whether it is a type-7 L panel.