Linear nesting: a free cut list optimizer for bar, tube and pipe
Nestor's linear nesting is a free online cut list optimizer for lengths cut from long stock: bar, tube, pipe, angle, channel and beam. Type or paste a cut list of lengths and quantities, pick the stock lengths you have, and Nestor works out how to cut every piece from as few bars as it can, allowing for the saw's kerf and any end trim. Each bar is drawn to scale with its pieces in the order to cut them and the drop left at the end, and a PDF cut list goes to the saw. It is part of Nestor, free with an account.
What linear nesting does
- Cut lists typed in or pasted from Excel, Google Sheets or a CSV file: quantity, length and a mark
- Lengths as fractions (65 1/4 or 65-1/4) or decimals, in inches or millimeters
- Stock lengths of 8 to 40 ft, 6 m and 12 m, or any custom length, used in the order you list them, with how many you have on hand
- A remnant first, then full lengths, so short stock on the rack gets used
- The saw's kerf taken out of every cut, and an end trim to square up a mill end
- As few bars as the lengths allow, with bars cut the same way grouped together
- Each bar drawn to scale, every piece in its own color, with the pieces in the order to cut them and the drop at the end
- An optional weight per foot or per meter, for what the bars, the pieces and the drops weigh
- A PDF cut list for the saw, with every bar drawn to scale
- Jobs saved to your account, to open again later
Three steps
Enter the cut list
Type each length with its quantity, or paste the rows straight from a spreadsheet.
Pick your stock
Choose the lengths you stock, 20 ft, 24 ft or any length, a remnant first if you have one, and the saw's kerf.
Cut from the list
Each bar is drawn with its pieces in the order to cut them and the drop at the end, on screen and on the PDF cut list for the saw.
An example cut list
A handrail job: 8 posts at 42 in, 4 rails at 96 1/2 in, 8 braces at 18 1/4 in and 4 caps at 6 in, from 20 ft tube on a saw with a 1/8 in kerf. Nestor cut all 24 pieces from 4 bars of 20 ft, 93% yield, leaving 65 in of drops, the longest 53 1/8 in.
Bar 1: 1 bar
96 1/2 rail, 18 1/4 brace, 18 1/4 brace, 18 1/4 brace, 18 1/4 brace, 18 1/4 brace, 18 1/4 brace, 18 1/4 brace, 6 cap, 6 cap; drop 2 1/2
Bar 2: 1 bar
96 1/2 rail, 96 1/2 rail, 42 post; drop 4 5/8
Bar 3: 1 bar
96 1/2 rail, 42 post, 42 post, 42 post, 6 cap, 6 cap; drop 4 3/4
Bar 4: 1 bar
42 post, 42 post, 42 post, 42 post, 18 1/4 brace; drop 53 1/8
- post, 42 in
- rail, 96 1/2 in
- brace, 18 1/4 in
- cap, 6 in
How to read a linear cut list
- Each bar: one stock length, drawn to scale from the end the saw starts at.
- Cut like this: how many bars are cut exactly the same way, so the saw stop can stay set.
- Pieces: in the order to cut them, longest first, each in its own color, by length and mark.
- The drop: what is left at the far end, shaded, with its length, to keep as a remnant or scrap.
- The kerf: taken out after every piece, so the lengths are what comes off the saw.
Material for the quote
Linear nesting says how many bars of each length a job takes and how much of them ends up as drops. Give it the weight per foot from your supplier’s table for the size, and it also says what the bars, the finished pieces and the drops weigh, so the material in a quote comes from the actual cut list rather than a guess.
Linear, shear or cut shape nesting?
Nestor has three tools. Cut shape nesting nests flat DXF parts of any shape on sheet and plate for laser, plasma, waterjet and router. Shear nesting lays out squares and rectangles for a shear. Linear nesting is for long stock cut to length: bar, tube, pipe, angle, channel and beam.
Questions
What is linear nesting?
Linear nesting, also called one-dimensional nesting or a cut length optimizer, works out how to cut a list of lengths from stock bars so as few bars as possible are used and as little is left over. It is how a shop plans cutting tube, pipe, angle, channel, beam or bar to length on a saw.
Is Nestor's linear nesting free?
Yes. Linear nesting is part of Nestor, a free online nesting tool. An account needs only an email address: you sign in with a code Nestor emails you, with no password.
Does it allow for the saw's kerf?
Yes. Enter the kerf, the width the blade takes out, and Nestor takes it out after every piece, including the cut that frees the last piece from the drop. An end trim squares up a mill end before the first cut.
Can I paste a cut list from Excel?
Yes. Copy the rows from Excel, Google Sheets or a CSV file and paste them into the cut list. With a header row (Qty, Length, Mark) the columns can be in any order; without one, Nestor reads the quantity and then the length, and any words as the mark.
Can I use up remnants first?
Yes. List a remnant's length first, with how many you have, and full lengths after it. Nestor uses the stock in that order and only starts a full length when the remnants are used.
Can it tell me what the material weighs?
Yes, if you give it the weight per foot (or per meter) from your supplier's table for the size. Nestor then says what the bars used, the finished pieces and the drops weigh, for quoting the material.
How do I start?
Create a free account at nestorspace.com with your email address; Nestor emails you a code to sign in, with no password.
Linear nesting is free with a Nestor account. Create a free account to lay out your first cut list.