Cut list optimizer
Optimise a cutting list to use fewer stock lengths and waste less material. Free.
Optimise your cutting list, free
A cut list optimizer works out how to cut your parts from standard stock lengths using as few lengths as possible, so you buy less material and throw away fewer offcuts. Enter your stock length and blade kerf, list the pieces you need with quantities, and the plan updates as you type. It runs online on your device with nothing to install.
It is built for one-dimensional cutting: timber, extrusion, tube, bar, moulding and any length cut from a longer stick. The blade kerf (the width the saw removes) is counted between cuts, so the plan reflects what you will really get from each length.
How to use it
- Set the stock length and the blade kerf.
- Add each piece length and how many you need.
- Read the plan: how many stock lengths, the cuts in each, and the leftover.
- Download the plan to take to the saw.
Common questions
What is kerf?
Kerf is the width of material the blade turns into dust on every cut. Ignoring it makes a plan that looks fine on paper but comes up short on the last piece, so it is included here.
How does the optimisation work?
It sorts the pieces from longest to shortest and fits each into the first stock length with room, opening a new length only when it must. That keeps the number of lengths, and the waste, low.
Is this the same as nesting?
No. This is one-dimensional (lengths from a stick). For flat parts on a sheet, use NestMaxx itself, which packs true shapes in two dimensions.