Shear nesting: a free cut list optimizer for sheet metal

What shear nesting does

• Cut lists typed in or pasted from Excel, Google Sheets or a CSV file: quantity, length, width and a mark
• Sizes as fractions (27 1/4 or 27-1/4) or decimals, in inches or millimeters
• Guillotine layouts only: every cut runs edge to edge across the plate on the bed, as a shear cuts
• Strip patterns: the sheet ripped into strips and the strips cut into pieces, with a good sheet repeated as often as the quantities allow
• Cuts numbered in order with the back gauge setting for each, kept at one setting for as long as it can be
• On identical sheets, each cut made on every sheet before the next
• A grain lock per size: its length runs along the sheet's length, never turned
• Any sheet sizes you stock, used in the order you list them, with how many you have on hand
• An edge trim to square up a mill edge, and a blade allowance for a saw
• An operator view: one cut at a time in large type, for a tablet or phone at the shear
• A PDF cut plan with every sheet pattern drawn to scale and its cuts in order
• Jobs saved to your account, to open again later

Three steps

1. Enter the cut list

   Type each size with its quantity, or paste the rows straight from a spreadsheet.

2. Pick your sheets

   Choose standard or custom sheet sizes your shear can cut, and how many you have on hand.

3. Cut from the plan

   Follow the numbered cuts and back gauge settings on the screen, in the operator view, or on the PDF cut plan.

An example cut plan

The cut list: 8 pieces 24 x 12 1/4 in marked A1, 20 pieces 11 x 7 in marked B2 with the grain locked, and 6 pieces 30 x 20 in marked C3, on 48 x 96 in sheets. Nestor cut all 34 pieces from 2 sheets of 48 x 96, 81% yield, in 39 cuts and 8 back gauge settings. The first sheet:

How to read a shear cut plan

• Cut: the order to cut in. The plan lists every cut on a sheet; on identical sheets, make each cut on all of them before the next.
• Back gauge: where to set the stop behind the blade. A setting in bold moves the gauge; the others keep it where the last cut left it.
• On the bed: the plate being cut, length by width.
• Cut runs: along the plate’s length or across its width, always from edge to edge.
• Makes: what each cut gives: a finished piece, a plate to cut again, or a drop.

Your shear, your sheet sizes

Every shop’s shear is different, so Nestor does not check a layout against one. It does not know your shear’s blade length, back gauge depth or capacity. Pick sheet sizes your shear can cut, and check the plan against its limits before cutting.

Shear nesting or cut shape nesting?

Nestor has two tools. Cut shape nesting nests DXF parts of any shape by their true outlines for laser, plasma, waterjet and router, and gives back a DXF of every sheet. Shear nesting is for squares and rectangles cut on a shear: it starts from a cut list, so no DXF is needed.

Questions