Quick guide
How to optimize a one-dimensional cut list
- Add available stock lengths, quantities, and optional costs or material labels.
- Add every required finished length and quantity. Mark parts directional or give related pieces a keep-together set when grain or color continuity matters.
- Enter the real blade kerf and any unusable end trim. Choose least waste or lowest cost, then optimize.
- Review the proof status, diagrams, offcuts, stock usage, and cut order. Download the CSV or print the plan.
- Verify every measurement, defect, and machine setup before cutting. Label pieces as you go.
What this optimizer calculates
This is a one-dimensional cutting-stock tool: only length is optimized. It works for boards of a fixed cross-section, pipe, bar, extrusion, molding, conduit, and similar linear stock. Every part is assigned to one entered stock length without exceeding its available span.
It does not rotate or nest shapes on sheet goods. Width, thickness, defects, joinery allowances, squaring cuts, and blade setup remain your responsibility unless represented by separate material groups or added to your entered lengths.
Kerf and end-trim accounting
The model reserves the entered trim at both ends of each used stock piece. Each required part then consumes its finished length plus one kerf, including the final part before an offcut. This conservative convention avoids quietly treating the separating cut as free.
Total waste includes end trim, kerf, and remaining offcut: total purchased/used stock length minus total finished-part length. Reusable offcut is shown separately; decide whether it is practically useful for your shop.
Materials, direction, and grain sets
A part with material “Oak” uses only stock labeled “Oak”; an unlabeled part can use any stock. Use labels for species, profile, thickness, color, heat number, or any property that makes stock incompatible.
Directional marks preserve a reference-end arrow in the diagram and schedule. A keep-together set is stricter: every part instance with the same set name becomes one bundle placed on a single stock piece, in entered row order. If it cannot fit together, the plan is rejected rather than silently split.
Least waste vs. lowest cost
Least waste minimizes total used stock length, which is equivalent to minimizing total physical waste because the required finished-part length is fixed. Lowest cost minimizes the sum of entered prices first, then uses waste and piece count as tie-breakers.
Stock quantities are finite. “Quantity 3” means no plan may use a fourth piece. Cost optimization requires a price for every stock row; zero is allowed for stock you already own.
Is the cut plan guaranteed optimal?
The page reports exactly what it knows. For projects with at most 20 independent part bundles and 60 available stock pieces, it attempts a bounded exhaustive search after building a deterministic best-fit plan. If the search finishes, the badge says Best plan proven for the entered choices and model. If its time or node limit is reached, the badge says Best plan found.
Larger projects use a deterministic best-fit-decreasing heuristic and are labeled Heuristic plan. A feasible heuristic plan is useful, but a better arrangement may exist. Because one-dimensional cutting stock is computationally difficult, the calculator never labels an interrupted or heuristic result globally optimal.
Worked kerf example
Suppose a 96-inch board has 0.25 inch reserved at each end, and three 31-inch parts are cut with a 0.125-inch kerf per part. The available inner span is 95.5 inches. The parts and cuts consume 3 × (31 + 0.125) = 93.375 inches, leaving a 2.125-inch offcut. Physical waste from that board is 0.5 inch of trim + 0.375 inch of kerf + 2.125 inches of offcut = 3 inches.
Frequently asked questions
Can I optimize plywood or sheet goods?
No. This tool solves length-only cutting. Sheet layouts require a two-dimensional optimizer that considers width, height, rotation, grain direction, and cut sequencing.
Does “least waste” mean fewest boards?
Not always. It minimizes total used stock length, then uses fewer stock pieces as a tie-breaker. Two shorter pieces can waste less material than one much longer piece.
How do I handle defects or unusable sections?
Split usable regions into separate stock entries, or reduce the entered stock length. The optimizer does not know where knots, bends, welds, or damaged areas occur.
Can I use mixed units?
No. Enter every stock length, part length, kerf, and trim in the selected common unit. Changing the unit label does not convert existing values.
Are saved projects uploaded?
No. Optimization is local. If “Remember on this device” is checked, inputs are stored only in this browser's local storage. Clear the form to remove that saved project.
Is the listed order a complete operating procedure?
No. It is a material allocation and reference-end sequence. Follow the tool manufacturer's instructions for guarding, clamping, support, clearance, and safe cutting. Measure twice and test the setup before production cuts.