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Wanted: Free and simple cutting optimizer tool.

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eleman:
I have big plates of wood, and I have to cut them in predefined sizes and shapes. I am looking for a software to tell me how to cut them so as to minimize the waste.

Also I need my father (aged 70) to be able to use it, so nothing too technical would be a better choice.

I tried a few like cutlist, but most have clumsy interfaces, and some have their fair share of bugs.

Cheers,
E.

--
Indecision is the key to flexibility. [Brian Schottlander]

mrainey:
What shapes beyond square or rectangular?

eleman:
What shapes beyond square or rectangular?
-mrainey (November 07, 2009, 07:40 AM)
--- End quote ---

Good point, sorry I should have been better in defining requirements.

Circles would be nice to have. Triangles would also be fun to have, but I think their utility would not compensate for the extra complications they would impose on the UI.

But I would be content with a decent program that would do only squares and rectangles.

mrainey:
I think circles and triangles might require full-blown commercial nesting software, which can get expensive.

A well-established and relatively inexpensive sheet optimizer for rectangular shapes can be found here:  http://www.sheetlayout.com/

You could get an inexpensive CAD program, or maybe Google Sketchup, and manually lay out the pieces.  That would take more time, but you could use any shapes you wanted.

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