# Anti brain melting cutting list calculation software



## Droogs (3 Oct 2015)

I have a few large projects coming up which have cutting lists as long as my arms and having been previously described as an oranutang they're gonna be quite long. What software do you guys use to help calculate your materiel needs for sheet goods. Having tried to do some calculating myself today and being told off for making a big mess in the living room with bits of cut up paper that the cat has shredded and SWMBO has had to clear up as I'm on a biff chit with a trapped nerve at the moment. I can already feel my small reserve of grey matter starting to ooze out one lug. So any suggestions from you good gentlechaps/essess will be greatly received

droogs


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## HOJ (3 Oct 2015)

I use Cutlist, needs a bit of understanding and reworking sometimes, but used to good effect.

http://www.delphiforfun.org/Programs/CutList.htm

Paul


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## Zeddedhed (3 Oct 2015)

+1 for cutlist.

If you use sketchup then there is a free extension to export your drawing into cutlist. Very useful


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## Brentingby (3 Oct 2015)

+1 for the Cut List extension for sketchup. And you can have an accurate picture of what you are building so you should know if the cut list makes sense.


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## nathandavies (3 Oct 2015)

excel, with a few formula


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## Zeddedhed (3 Oct 2015)

nathandavies":3kg7kckf said:


> excel, with a few formula



Really???

Thats something I'd like to see.


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## RogerBoyle (4 Oct 2015)

Zeddedhed":zinaaoe2 said:


> nathandavies":zinaaoe2 said:
> 
> 
> > excel, with a few formula
> ...



+1 :mrgreen:


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## Droogs (4 Oct 2015)

@Zed, where can I find the extension? thanks


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## Zeddedhed (4 Oct 2015)

You need to search in the Sketchup Extension Warehouse.


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## Droogs (4 Oct 2015)

Thanks to all. have D/L'd Cutlist and the plug in and will have a play about.


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## Brentingby (5 Oct 2015)

Perhaps this will be helpful.


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## Jacob (5 Oct 2015)

There's a simple rule of thumb method which is very reliable; basically you cut out stuff in order of size starting with biggest (longest/widest, whatever) pieces first but cutting them from the smallest available piece of stock or offcut. Saves a lot of effin about.
It's a brain-off dead cert with timber but sheet might take a little more thought with orientation etc, but still good.


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## nathandavies (6 Oct 2015)

RogerBoyle":yapr8t6p said:


> Zeddedhed":yapr8t6p said:
> 
> 
> > nathandavies":yapr8t6p said:
> ...



Don't get me wrong, it's not particularly sophisticated, but I can get my material quantities from it, and all my individual panels etc, but I do have to take the final cutting list into word to produce my stickers. I'm only doing a couple of kitchens a month so I don't need anything more than that.

Nathan


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## Zeddedhed (6 Oct 2015)

nathandavies":2cytqh6e said:


> Don't get me wrong, it's not particularly sophisticated, but I can get my material quantities from it, and all my individual panels etc, but I do have to take the final cutting list into word to produce my stickers. I'm only doing a couple of kitchens a month so I don't need anything more than that.
> 
> Nathan




Does it optimise your panels so as to use the minimum number of sheets?


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## nathandavies (6 Oct 2015)

lol, no I do that on the hoof.


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## JSW (6 Oct 2015)

Zeddedhed":3jrkrphm said:


> nathandavies":3jrkrphm said:
> 
> 
> > Don't get me wrong, it's not particularly sophisticated, but I can get my material quantities from it, and all my individual panels etc, but I do have to take the final cutting list into word to produce my stickers. I'm only doing a couple of kitchens a month so I don't need anything more than that.
> ...


Many moons ago when I had my own shopfitting co. specialising in visual merchandising, IE: display units for retail stores, I'd use Excel for this task. Say we had to quote on 300 display units of a given size and shape, I'd use Excel with a whole bunch of sheet material sizes and thicknesses, including veneers and laminated boards, each row would have a final formula that is basically the width x length of piece, x sq.m per sheet (2.97 sq.m as I recall) so enter a size of say, 600 x 1200 into two boxes under the "18mm Oak veneered MDF" and the formula would calculate how much of a full sheet that would utilise, x by the cost per sheet, worked really well tbh! it then added on something like 10% for wastage. Enter all the other sizes for materials and the bottom line figure would be the cost per item.

I got used to "reading" a display item in advance, so if for example a unit needed 2 metres of veneered Oak, and the other 400 mm was unusable, I'd account for that in the wastage factor.


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## Jacob (6 Oct 2015)

Zeddedhed":330feb8t said:


> nathandavies":330feb8t said:
> 
> 
> > Don't get me wrong, it's not particularly sophisticated, but I can get my material quantities from it, and all my individual panels etc, but I do have to take the final cutting list into word to produce my stickers. I'm only doing a couple of kitchens a month so I don't need anything more than that.
> ...


The rule of thumb method (above) does optimise the number of sheets pretty well but you can be caught out with some sizes so you need to think a bit. But a lot less time and trouble than any computer app.


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