Linear Cut Optimizer — 1D Cut-to-Length for Any Material

Linear cutting is the classic cutting stock problem: you have stock of fixed lengths and a list of shorter pieces to cut from them, and you want the fewest sticks (or the least waste). It's a different problem from 2D sheet nesting, with different rules:

• Stock comes in discrete lengths (3 m / 6 m bar, 8/10/12/16 ft lumber, 10/20 ft conduit)
• A long piece can only come from a long enough stick — you can't splice a 14 ft run from two 8 ft sticks
• Every cut consumes a kerf (saw blade / cutoff wheel width)
• The leftover at the end of each stick is an offcut you may be able to reuse

EZNESTING's linear mode runs a First-Fit-Decreasing packing pass over your cut list and reports the layout per stick, total sticks needed, and the offcut left on each one.

Anything sold in lengths and cut to size is a 1D problem. EZNESTING is material-agnostic, so the same optimizer covers:

• Metal stock — round bar, flat bar, square/rectangular tube, angle, channel, I-beam
• Pipe & conduit — steel, copper, PVC, PEX, EMT, rigid conduit
• Aluminum extrusion & profiles — 80/20 framing, window/door profiles, trim extrusions
• Rebar — cut-to-length schedules for concrete reinforcement
• Lumber & trim — studs, joists, base, crown, casing, dowel, decking

The optimizer doesn't care what the material is — it only cares about lengths, quantities, and kerf. That's exactly why a single tool can serve a metal shop, an electrician, a framer, and a cabinet shop's face-frame stock.

Say you're building a batch of frames and need these cuts of 40×40 aluminum extrusion, with stock sold in 6 m (6000 mm) lengths and a 3 mm saw kerf:

• 18 × 1200 mm (uprights)
• 24 × 800 mm (rails)
• 30 × 450 mm (cross members)

That's 54.3 m of finished parts. A common shortcut is to cut each size from its own bars: four 1200s per bar (5 bars), seven 800s per bar (4 bars) and thirteen 450s per bar (3 bars). That's 12 bars.

Packed by the optimizer, sizes mix on the same bar. The first four bars cut as 1200 + 1200 + 1200 + 1200 + 800, and later bars mix 800s with 450s. The job lands at 10 bars at 90.5% yield, and the tenth bar still has 2,379 mm left as a usable offcut. Same cuts, two fewer bars (12 m of extrusion). The tool at the top of this page is pre-filled with this job.

Enter your cut lengths and stock length, and EZNESTING produces the cut diagram per bar so the saw operator just works down the list.

Two details separate a real linear optimizer from a spreadsheet:

• Kerf compensation. Every cut removes material equal to the blade or wheel width. Ten cuts on a bar at a 3 mm kerf is 30 mm gone — enough to cost you a piece if you ignore it. EZNESTING subtracts kerf at every cut.
• Offcut tracking. The leftover at the end of each stick is reported so you can save reusable drops. Plan for 5–10% extra on top of the optimizer's count for defects, miscuts, and material you cut around.

The optimizer's "minimum waste" answer assumes perfect, defect-free stock. Real bar can be bent, real lumber has knots, real extrusion has damaged ends — pad the order accordingly.

Most dedicated 1D cut optimizers are dated desktop apps, single-material, or paid. EZNESTING is different on the axes that matter:

• Free and browser-based — nothing to install, runs on any device
• Any material — metal, pipe, extrusion, rebar, lumber; not locked to one trade
• 1D and 2D in one tool — switch the mode toggle to nest sheet goods (plywood, sheet metal, glass, acrylic) when the job needs it
• Metric and imperial — work in mm or in inches with fractions, even mix units per row
• Real exports — cut diagrams and lists you can hand to the floor

Most jobs that need linear cutting also need some sheet cutting. Doing both in one place — with the same import, the same units, the same export — is the point.

Linear (1D): pipe, tube, bar, extrusion, rebar, lumber, trim, molding, dowel — anything sold by length.

Sheet (2D): plywood, MDF, melamine, sheet metal, glass, acrylic, foam board — anything sold as a panel.

EZNESTING has both — switch the mode toggle in the optimizer. A typical fabrication or cabinet job needs both: linear for the frame members and trim, sheet for the panels (run those through the plywood cut list optimizer or sheet goods calculator). Don't force 2D math onto a 1D problem — the answer comes out wrong.