Cutting Optimizer
Zita Lifland
In industry, 2D cutting stock problem is one of the most important tasks how to cut sheet material with maximal material yield and minimal waste. This cut list calculator will help you with this issue in real time with couple of clicks. Because cutting stock problem is a subclass of NP-hard problems, it is very time consuming to find optimal solution for complex tasks but also for fairly simple tasks. Heuristics and evolutionary algorithms are much better choice for complex problems. Our cut sheet calculator use these powerful methods so the final solution is really close to optimal solution or is optimal solution.
For hobbyists, tradesmen, small companies or for every personal or commercial entity, who do not require to solve complex sheet cutting optimization problems (when our Free plan is sufficient), we provides our cut optimizer completely FREE OF CHARGE.
This cut length calculator is designed to solve problems of cutting linear or length stock material as timber, beams, bars, paper rolls or pipes into pieces of specified lengths with minimal material waste, named as cutting stock problem. In generally, it's kind of length cutting optimization software, in other words, it's cut length optimizer or linear cut calculator.
For simple problems, finding optimal solution is not a big deal, but when you need to cut material to bigger number of parts, or you demand more parts with different lengths, things are going to be more complicated. Basic and the most common length optimization algorithms, like "First Fit" or "Best Fit", are not a good choice. Here begins the strength of our linear cutting list calculator.
Cutting Optimization Pro is a cuttingsoftware used for obtaining optimal cutting layouts for one (1D) and two(2D) dimensional pieces. The software also lets you to define and handlecomplex products, such as table, desk, cupboard, locker, book shelf...
Cutting Optimization Pro can also beused as cutting software for linear pieces such as bars, pipes, tubes, steelbars, metal profiles, extrusions, tubes, lineal wood boards, etc and othermaterials.
Adjustable optimization level- Onemay specify how many layouts to be generated before the solution isoutputted. If you don't have too much time and you don't have a goodcomputer you may set the Optimization Level to a low level. Thisfeature helps you to run your program on any kind of computer (from486 to the best processors available today).
Adjustable limit for breakable parts- No waste will have a size lower than this parameter and no 2 parallelcuts will be closer than this. It is used in order to avoid the breakingof too small material. Useful in glass industry.
Statistics related to the current cut/ layout- At the end of the optimisation process you will have accessto the: number of cuts, cuts definition (starting and ending point),number of waste rectangles, the waste rectangles (the coordinates ofthe top-left and bottom-right corners), number of utilized pieces, theplacement of the utilized pieces, used surface, ...
Desktop application. You are in control of your data. You do not risk loosing data if some distant server fails. You can run the application without problems even if the internet is not working.
Not to throw a wrench into the gears but it would take a large run of complex cabinets to compensate for the learning curve of new software vs just laying it out on graph paper. Also keep in mind the old military adage that the best of plans go to hell upon contact with the enemy. No software can tell you where the most attractive (or unattractive) grain patterns are on a particular board, plus unless these shelves will be painted I always try to cut as much from as few a sheets as possible to avoid staining and finishing problems. I would rather buy an extra sheet of plywood rather live with some glaring tonal mismatch in a cabinet because a piece of software told me I'd save a few bucks. Just my opinion.
When I use plywood, it's only for paint. The optimizer I used above is helpful to use the smallest amount of ply possible. Simply input the plywood dimensions, part sizes, the thickness of the kerf, and it gives you images of the pieces to be cut. Much, much quicker than graph paper or anything else.
Less troublesome waste, too, especially if you're the kind reluctant to bin or burn. Lots of panel work has nothing to do with grain or aesthetics -- you just want to keep the waste down, make the machine do the work and feel clever about it. Works for me.
I agree, most software programs are only designed to optimize as much material as possible. In the real world, you need to compensate for blemishes and optimize for looks. I do it the old fashioned way, I look at each piece.
Thanks for all the input. I am very mindful of the learning curve associated with new software, particularly since I'm a hobbyist. I might make one or two cabinet projects in a year and I'm likely to forget most of what I learned in the 8 to 12 months between projects. Like others, I'm most concerned with conserving waste. Its not so much the cost of the extra plywood, its storing it. If I can avoid buying that extra sheet from which I might only need 10% or so, I (and my wife) will be much happier. I think I might give CutList Plus at try (www.cutlistplus.com). They offer a free trial, the basic software is only $89. I've found that "free" is often worth what you pay for it. Thanks again. If anyone has experience, good or bad, with Cutlist Plus, let me know.
It's easy to use and with a little practice, you can use it for both sheet goods and linear layouts. It has been a big time saver and material saver, too. It's not an online tool and lets you save projects.
My two pennies worth; you know what you want the finished product to look like and the dimensions. A pencil & paper is best for transferring your idea.
My only caution; be sure of the plywood thickness you want. Thicker may not always be better, even for load bearing.
Hope this helps.
Mikaol
Now from here, I export it as an *.ai file (illustrator) and my college openes it in Corel draw, to optimize it for cutting, by manually giving each element a number in which they are to be printed in order to have the laser travel the minimal amout and by that minimizing the print time.
We used to use a sorting routine that David made as a plug-in back in the Rhino 4 days when the cutting order was based on the date of the objects in the file - until the laser cutter manufacturer brought out a better driver that actually managed to do a better job of sorting natively. Unfortunately not all laser cutter drivers have optimized their sorting.
AI and PDF format do not have entities for circles or arc. Neither does CorelDraw.
Instead these are approximated as beziers or splines.
You would get the purest representation of the geometry in a DXF file, which does transfer a true circle and arc entity (assuming you are starting with circles and arcs)
This add-in takes a set of cut lengths, # of parts required of each length and the raw material length and generates an optimized Cut list on a separate sheet called '1D matrix'. However, I do not like the way that the optimizer sets up the sheet so I added another sheet to the workbook called 'Cut List' and made the Layout the way I wanted it. Then I referenced the cells from the '1D matrix' sheet into my 'Cut List' sheet using the ='1D matrix'!'TheCellThatIWantToReferance' function.
I tried just clearing the 1D matrix sheet and saving it the the template. Then when i open up the excel sheet again the cells are still all referenced. Then when I run the optimizer, it rewrites this sheet but the cells on the 'Cut List' still show the #REF! error after it rewrites this page.
Good morning! I was recently asked by a client what the best linear cut optimizers are out there for Inventor. I didn't see anything in the Inventor App Store, so I some digging and found a couple of online calculators and a couple of Excel based options. However, it dawned on me that I should reach out to the community to see what everyone else has / is using. If you could please provide links to the optimizers below, I'd love to evaluate them. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Below is a list that I've at least taken a cursory look at:
I am sorry that I don't have much to offer here since I am ignorant of "Linear Cut Optimizer." I am not aware of an Autodesk solution. I think what you have found is much more information than I can offer.
There is a trick I use for inquiries like this. I usually search for a solution provided for our competitors. Sometimes, the same solution might be available to Inventor also. For example, there are some online viewers and robotic analysis tools. Please share what you find.
@petestrycharske Did you have any success with this search? This would be HUGE for us, and I'm surprised that there aren't any options in the app store. We are always generating cut lists from our BOM and manually determining how many sticks of metal would be required for ordering / cutting processes in the shop.
One Dimension Cutting Optimiser , is a simple, efficient and powerful tool to generate optimal cutting lists for industries like steel structure fabrication, aluminium manufacturing and many others that need to cut in shorter pieces 'bars' of raw material.
Our dynamic link library (or DLL), is a piece of software designed to integrate into larger software applications or systems. It allows access to the methods and functions for solving linear cutting requirements with optimum efficiency.
Our free online cutlist optimizer can be used to work out the best way to cut your lengths of material to get the most efficient cuts from the material and save wastage. The calculator can be used for any linear material whether it be steel, metal, wood (timber), plastics, etc.
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