Linear Cutting Optimizer
Which stock lengths to buy and where to cut each bar, with the least left over.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: your pieces and stock and the result rows, with every bar count, length and cost hidden.
- Locked until you unlock it: download and copy.
- Unlock: Pro pass, ₹179 for 30 days or ₹79 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews. Unlock: Pro pass, $5.99 for 30 days or $2.99 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews.
Ways to unlock shows how to get the full result.
Printing this result is locked in the free preview.
Cutting plan
Locked in the free preview. Opens the ways to unlock this result.
Locked in the free preview. Batch runs unlock with a pass.
Locked in the free preview. Query results unlock with a pass.
Results are estimates from the formulas shown, not a professional design or certification. Have a qualified engineer verify anything safety-critical (structures, electrical installations, gas or pressure systems).
About the Linear Cutting Optimizer
Plan how to cut bars, pipes, rebar, tubes, profiles or timber from the stock lengths you can buy. List the pieces you need (or paste them from a spreadsheet) and the stock lengths with their prices; the optimizer works out how many bars to buy and where to cut each one, counting the saw cut between pieces and marking the offcuts long enough to keep. Each cutting plan is drawn as a bar to scale, so it can be marked out on the bench or the site.
The free preview shows the result rows with the values hidden; a Pro pass shows every figure, the cutting diagrams and the cut list, with copy and CSV, text or JSON downloads.
How to use it
- Choose the unit your lengths are in, then enter each piece you need: its length, how many and, if you like, a name. To bring a list from a spreadsheet, open “Paste a cut list”.
- Enter the stock lengths you can buy, with the price of one bar if you want the cost.
- Check the saw cut (kerf) and the shortest offcut worth keeping, then select Make the cutting plan.
- With a Pro pass you see each bar’s diagram and can copy the plan or download the cut list; without one the free preview hides the values.
How the plan is made
This is the one-dimensional cutting stock problem. The optimizer places the longest pieces first (first-fit decreasing), then tries to empty whole bars into the others and to cut each bar from a shorter stock length where one will do. Lengths are added up exactly, so every piece, every saw cut and every offcut is accounted for, and inches and feet convert exactly to metres (NIST SP 811, B.9). It is a good plan rather than a proven best one: a different arrangement may sometimes save a bar.
Limitations
- The saw cut is counted between two pieces in a bar; no end trim is assumed. Add your own trim to the piece lengths if the bars need squaring.
- It cuts lengths only: angles, mitres and the material’s grade, straightness and actual stock are yours to check.
- Very long lists take longer; the plan is worked out on your device and can be stopped by changing any input.
Privacy
On this device; its files download once
Everything is calculated on your device; nothing is uploaded or stored.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Linear Cutting Optimizer shows your pieces and stock and the result rows, with every bar count, length and cost hidden. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or copied. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
Where is the saw cut (kerf) counted?
Between each two pieces cut from the same bar. A bar of 6,000 mm cut into two pieces of 2,998 mm with a 3 mm blade leaves 1 mm: 2,998 + 3 + 2,998 + 1. The diagrams show each saw cut as a dark line.
Is this the plan with the least waste?
It is a strong plan, not a proven best one. Finding the best possible plan takes far too long for large lists, so the optimizer uses a well-known quick method and then improves its plan. Compare the material used in the result with your own plans.
Can I mix different stock lengths?
Yes. Add every stock length you can buy; the optimizer cuts from the longest and then moves each bar to the shortest stock length that still holds its pieces, using the cheaper one when two lengths are the same.