Step by step we set up a cutting plan in cutlistlab: typing or pasting parts from Excel, material and thickness per part, grain direction, sheet and factory edge, kerf, trim and minimum offcut, optimizing for waste, cuts or cost, and thorough search. Part 2 covers adjusting the plan: cutting order, rotating, locking, dragging and export. Free, no signup.
Chapters
Transcript
The spoken text of the video, per chapter.
Intro and starting empty0:00
In this video we set up a cutting plan in cutlistlab, using a cabinet with shelves as the example. This is the result: three sheets, with the cutting order next to them, which we go through in part 2.
When you open cutlistlab, an example project is waiting. We click Start with your own sheets, so we start with a clean list.
Typing parts0:21
We enter the parts: name, length, width, quantity, Enter. Two sides. A top. And four shelves. Look at the right: after every line cutlistlab recalculates the plan straight away. There is no Calculate button.
Pasting from Excel0:41
If your list is already in Excel, there is no need to retype it. We click Paste multiple from Excel or CSV, paste the columns, and import. Three lines added, six parts in total.
Material and thickness per part0:56
Per part you choose material and thickness. A material has to be in your project as a sheet, so first we take an MDF sheet from the library. Then we set the top to MDF. At the bottom a separate MDF sheet appears: every material gets its own sheets.
Grain direction1:15
Then the grain direction. On the sides we fix it along the length, because you will see those. The optimizer may not rotate them then. The shelves we leave free: they may rotate if that saves a sheet. A shelf that was rotated gets a round arrow.
The sheet: quantity and factory edge1:32
Now the sheet. The size is the store's; which sheet to pick is covered in a separate video. We leave the quantity empty, then cutlistlab works out how many you need. Enter one and cutlistlab says straight away that it does not fit. We clear it again. With Edge you mark factory edges: those you do not need to trim.
Kerf, trim and minimum offcut1:56
Three settings you set once. Kerf is what the blade removes; for most circular saws that is an eighth of an inch. Trim is what you cut off an edge that is not factory straight, here three eighths. Look at the sheet edge: a strip comes off. And minimum offcut: anything smaller than 6 inches counts as waste, because in practice you never keep that.
Optimize for waste, cuts or cost2:22
Then Optimize for, top left. Least waste gives the most economical layout. Fewest cuts gives long, through cuts; that is the choice for a track saw, and here it costs you one extra sheet. cutlistlab says so right away. Lowest cost looks at the price per sheet. For now we set it back to Least waste.
Thorough search2:45
If you want to be sure this is the best layout, click the icon on the right in the button bar above the plan: Search extra layouts. cutlistlab then tries hundreds of thousands of extra layouts. Sometimes that saves a sheet, sometimes it confirms it was already good. That is in the message.
Wrap-up3:05
That was the basics: parts, material and grain, sheet, settings and goal. In the next part we adjust the plan. cutlistlab is free, no signup. Try it at cutlistlab dot com.