Rotation and Orientation
Letting parts turn gives the nester more ways to fit them together, which usually packs tighter. But some materials have a grain or finish direction that a part must respect. NestMaxx lets you choose, both for the whole job and for individual parts.
Rotation for the whole job
In the Quick Nest dialog (press Nest 
), Part rotation sets which angles parts may turn to while nesting. More angles pack tighter but take longer to search, and may not suit your material:
- Automatic - let NestMaxx choose sensible angles.
- None (grain locked) - parts keep their orientation. Use this when the material grain or finish direction must be preserved.
- 0, 180 - upright or turned half a turn, keeping the grain axis.
- 0, 90 - upright or quarter-turned.
- 0, 90, 180, 270 - any quarter turn.
- Free (15° steps) - the most freedom, turning in fine steps for the tightest pack.
This setting applies to every part except those you have pinned individually.
Rotation for a single part
Sometimes one part needs different treatment from the rest. In Part Properties, a part’s Rotation is normally set to Follow Quick Nest, meaning it obeys the job-wide setting above. Change it to any specific rule to pin that part: once pinned, Quick Nest changes no longer touch it. This is how you lock a single grain-sensitive part while letting everything else rotate freely, or the reverse.
Mirroring
Rotation turns a part; mirroring flips it over. Allowing mirror (in Part Properties) gives the nester even more options, but only use it where it is truly safe: the material must have no top side, and the part must have no handedness. A mirrored part with handedness is simply the wrong part.
Choosing well
- If your material has no grain (many metals and plastics), allow generous rotation for the tightest pack.
- If your material has a grain or finish direction (many woods, brushed metals, laminates), use None or 0, 180 to keep every part aligned.
- Mix the two by pinning the few parts that need it and letting the rest rotate.
After changing rotation, run the nest again to see the effect, and compare the result. See Reading the Result.