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.
1. In the "Settings" box, enter the length of the steel or wood that you will be cutting the required lengths from. Your measurements can be in inches, feet, cm (centimetres), mm (millimetres) or metres. A lot of steel is not exactly the length that it is sold as. For example an 8 metre length of steel that is sold as 8 metres, may be 10 or more millimetres longer than 8 metres. Therefore, if you enter that you need 1 x 6050 mm and 1 x 1950mm, then with a kerf of 1.5 mm, it will want to add another length, so you should enter the exact length of the material (or near to it).
2. In the "Settings" box, enter the kerf. The kerf is the width of the cut and will vary depending on the width of the band saw blade or cutting disc that are using.
3. In the "Stock" box enter any stock that you already have cut.
4. In the "Cuts" box, enter the length and number of required pieces of steel that are needed for your project and click the "Add" button after each one.
5. If you need to remove any cuts from the list, simply click on that particular entry and it will be removed.
6. Click the "Print Visual Cutting List" button if you wish to print the sheet showing the layout.
7. Click the "Print List" button if you would like to print the list of cuts that you have entered.
NOTE: If your measurements are in fractions of an imperial inch, these will need to be converted from fractions to decimals. A table of fractions of an inch to decimals and millimetres can be found here (opens in new window): Convert Imperial Fractions to Decimal and Millimetres.
A short video showing our cutting list calculator in action can viewed here (opens in new window): Linear Cutting List Calculator Intro Video.