METHOD, EXAMPLES & LIMITATIONS
How the cutting planner works
Enter rectangular stock and the finished rectangles you need. The planner normalizes dimensions to millimeters, respects the available sheet quantities, and tests four part orderings, two cutting directions, and two stock-price preferences. It first favors placing more requested parts; among complete tested plans it favors lower entered material cost, then fewer sheets and less gross sheet area. It is not an exhaustive search or a guarantee of the global optimum.
What the diagram does and does not promise
Each saw cut is a guillotine cut: a straight cut across an isolated rectangular region. The sequence table specifies that region and the starting edge of the blade kerf. Follow the sequence rather than cutting every diagram line through the original whole sheet. The engine uses a conservative model: a separating cut must fit the full blade width inside its region. A leftover sliver narrower than the blade may therefore be rejected even when a workshop-specific edge-trimming method could handle it.
Edge trim excludes the entered border from all four sides and already includes the trim cuts' material loss. A part that exactly matches a remaining region needs no separating cut. When a cut has zero entered blade width, it is an idealized zero-loss cut, not a realistic blade specification.
Worked example: why blade width matters
Two 5 × 10 rectangles fill a 10 × 10 sheet when blade width is zero. With a 1-unit blade width, cutting the first 5 × 10 piece leaves only 4 × 10 on the other side; the second part cannot fit. The planner reports it as unplaced rather than silently shrinking your pieces.
Area and cost accounting
Purchased sheet area = finished part area + rectangular offcut area + internal blade-cut loss + edge-trim allowance. Utilization is finished part area divided by purchased sheet area. Offcuts are not automatically waste: the tables show their dimensions so you can decide whether they are useful. Material cost is the sum of the entered prices of used sheets; it excludes unused available sheets, labor, tax, and delivery.
Dimensions, grain, and scope
One inch is represented as 25.4 millimeters and one centimeter as 10 millimeters. Switching units converts dimensions, trim, and blade width without changing the physical project. The stock's grain runs along the displayed length. Disable rotation for a part that must keep that direction. Work with one interchangeable material and thickness at a time. The planner does not model defects, irregular shapes, kerf variation, joinery, clamping, blade entry, structural strength, or safe machine operation.
Privacy, portability, and practical limits
Calculation inputs are processed in your browser and are not included in calculator-use events. This page includes the same Google Analytics and AdSense setup scripts as the existing site; see our privacy information for details. Local saves are browser storage, not cloud backup. Export project JSON to keep a portable copy and use Delete selected to remove a local save. The current safety limits are 100 part rows, 500 individual parts, 20 stock sizes, and 200 available sheets per project; all supported features are free. Browsers that block background workers can still calculate up to 100 parts and 50 available sheets using a limited on-page fallback.
What happens when the pieces do not fit?
The result is clearly marked partial, with every unplaced piece listed. A piece may be too large, may be blocked by trim or rotation rules, or may remain unplaced by the heuristic with the available stock. The latter does not prove that no arrangement exists. Add stock, check the measurements, or compare another stock size. A cheaper partial result is not a complete substitute for your requested project.