Part Nesting/Optimization Suggestions Needed

Hi Tom,
Take a look at Cutlistplus. Their free version handles a few parts. Cheers, JG

Tom Veatch wrote:

> I'm facing a task in the fairly near future that will involve cutting a few
> hundred pieces of about 5 or 6 different polygonal shapes and sizes from plywood
> sheets. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for a software
> package that handles part nesting and optimization?
>
> I'm not necessarily looking for a freebie, but as this is (hopefully) a one-time
> affair, I'd rather not spend a small fortune for something without a long term
> use. Most of the stuff I found with Google, et. al., had price tags equivalent
> to some pretty nice woodworking machinery. If I could keep the price under about
> US$100, it might pay for itself. It probably wouldn't be worth much more than
> that for a one-shot project.
>
> Tom Veatch
> Wichita, KS USA

Tom Veatch wrote:
> I'm facing a task in the fairly near future that will involve cutting a few
> hundred pieces of about 5 or 6 different polygonal shapes and sizes from plywood
> sheets. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for a software
> package that handles part nesting and optimization?
>
> I'm not necessarily looking for a freebie, but as this is (hopefully) a one-time
> affair, I'd rather not spend a small fortune for something without a long term
> use. Most of the stuff I found with Google, et. al., had price tags equivalent
> to some pretty nice woodworking machinery. If I could keep the price under about
> US$100, it might pay for itself. It probably wouldn't be worth much more than
> that for a one-shot project.

You might widen your search terms a little. The dress making
industry solves identical problems to woodwork. Indeed, the
software may be less obsessed with rectangles :-)

BugBear

bugbear wrote:
> Tom Veatch wrote:
>
>> I'm facing a task in the fairly near future that will involve cutting
>> a few
>> hundred pieces of about 5 or 6 different polygonal shapes and sizes
>> from plywood
>> sheets.
>
>
> You might widen your search terms a little. The dress making
> industry solves identical problems to woodwork. Indeed, the
> software may be less obsessed with rectangles :-)

Did some searching. no "potted" solutions going cheap.
Interesting though.

http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/gina/textile.html

Here's s nice woodwork oriented list, but it
all looks very rectilinear.
http://www.womeninwoodworking.com/links/links_show2.cfm?id=20

BugBear

Hello,
You may like to have a look at our PLUS 2D software.
A demo version available is sufficient for estimation,
and shows the complete results for small problems.

If you find the software suitable, write to
sales (AT) nirvanatec.com to see if they can make a
time limited version for you.

s.shrikanth

"JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi Tom,
> Take a look at Cutlistplus. Their free version handles a few parts.
> Cheers, JG

Yeah that is a good program but will only work on polygons that have square
corners and 4 sides.

"alexy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>
>>"JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>> Hi Tom,
>>> Take a look at Cutlistplus. Their free version handles a few parts.
>>> Cheers, JG
>>
>>Yeah that is a good program but will only work on polygons that have
>>square
>>corners and 4 sides.
>
> Also known as rectangles? <g>

Or Squares...

Thanks for the responses. It seems those optimization packages that are
justifiable are all limited to square/rectangular parts and the packages that
will do what I need are in the commercial/industrial arena and way outside my
price range.

Looks like a manual operation all the way.

Thanks again.

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS USA

On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 17:29:44 +0100, bugbear <bugbear@trim_papermule_trim.co.uk>
wrote:

<snip>

>Here's s nice woodwork oriented list, but it
>all looks very rectilinear.
>http://www.womeninwoodworking.com/links/links_show2.cfm?id=20
>
> BugBear


Thanks!

One of those in the list, _Sheet Cutting Suite_ from XY Tools, looks like it
might work. At least the parts shown in a sample screen shot include triangular,
trapezoidal, and circular/elliptical parts. However the license fee ($385/Lite
and $785/Standard versions) yields a negative ROI. But a free download that
cannot print or export results is available. That's at least worth a look-see.

Thanks again for the link.


Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS USA

"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Hi Tom,
>> Take a look at Cutlistplus. Their free version handles a few parts.
>> Cheers, JG
>
>Yeah that is a good program but will only work on polygons that have square
>corners and 4 sides.

Also known as rectangles? <g>


--
Alex
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