computer programmes

[engineerone]

sure this is around somewhere else, but.

are there any relatively cheap programmes that allow you to design and then produce cutting lists??

i use design cad, and there is an add on for that,
but i seem to remember there are a couple of others which were more woodworking based, and wondered who had the links and any work experience with them??

actually for a mate's son who is looking to set up shop in southampton.

paul

[nickw]

I use CutList Plus available from cutlistplus.com. It does the job for me.

[Lord Nibbo]

I use one called Optimik free up to about 30 pieces any more than that you have to buy the programme.

[cnc paul]

I use Cutlist plus, which works really well for me because it will output DXF files ... but is does not do design.


The best I have found for design and cutlist is eCabinet from Thermwood, there is quite a big learning curve + you will need to set up a library ( both lay-on and front frame) from the seed cabinets. The photo-realistic output is very good.

The best of all is that it is free... to get another programme of this standard you would need to spend £000's.

[mrgrimsdale]

Much quicker, fairly reliable and utterly free is the old rule of thumb: you cut out in descending order of size from the smallest piece suitable. This works for timber and boards, but a bit of input re orientation can help with boards.
You have to stick with the rule sometimes even when it seems counter intuitive e.g. if you need say 10 pieces at 300mm long it might seem to avoid waste if you cut them from one 3M piece, but probability says that there will be even less waste if you start your 300mm pieces with the shortest suitable lengths available.
It also has the big benefit of being self correcting e.g. if a piece seems unsuitable cos of an unnoticed shake or whatever - you just put it back in the pile and choose the next best one. You don't have to re-input data to a computer.
For your typical job you would have cut out the whole of the list in less time than it takes to set up the computer programme.

cheers
Jacob

[jaco]

I agree with Jacob on this one.
Pencil, paper & eraser.

(must be old school habits ....... )

[sainty]

I've used CutlistPlus and it is an excellent piece of software. The cutting diagrams are great and you can even print stickers for each component.

However, there is a bit of a problem. Whilst you will get the most efficient use of boards, it will be far from the most efficient flow of cuts. The last project I used it on was about 18 sheets of MDF which involved a lot of long rips of about 40mm to 80mm. These were placed on various sheets rather than for example doing a complete sheet of 45 mm rips which meant either changing the settings on the saw a lot or get completely swamped with offcuts. I dont use cutlist for this sort of work anymore which might be at the expense of some material but you can be surprisingly efficient using the old brain.

That said, I think that you can download the program free for a trial period which is well worth it.

[tim]

You can set Cutlist to optimise work flow/ number of cuts rather than minimising wastage. Settings>Project Settings>optimisation

I agree that you can do it all with just pencil and paper but I have also found that it really helps when you are designing stuff ie on my big library job reducing the shelf depth from 250 to 230mm saved about 8 full sheets of ply.

Plus it makes estimating and quoting a cinch.


Cheers

Tim

[engineerone]

seem to remember that someone told me about a programme that was promoted at the nec woodex last year.

anyone remember which one it was???

i have down loaded something called woodworks, but seems a real pita to use, anyone tried it???

paul