Cut length calculator
Enter the length your bar, tube or timber comes in, your saw’s kerf and the lengths you need. The calculator works out the fewest bars, shows how to cut each one, and marks the offcuts worth keeping.
Bar and tube cutting calculator
Pick a stock length or type your own. Prices are optional. Up to 20 lengths and 400 cuts.
The same job in the full app
Mixing 6m and 7.5m stock lengths for the cheapest plan, with a saw list for every bar.
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How to use it
- Bar length. The length your stock comes in, in millimetres.
- Kerf. Your saw’s cut width: about 1.5–2mm on a metal bandsaw, 2–3mm on a cold saw or mitre saw.
- Price per bar (optional) gives the material cost.
- Lengths. Each length you need and how many.
- Calculate. Each bar is drawn with its cuts. Offcuts of 500mm or more are shown in green as worth keeping.
This is the classic cutting stock problem. CutNest solves it and checks the answer against a lower bound, so when it says provably optimal, no plan uses fewer bars.
Typical stock lengths
Check with your supplier. These are lengths you will commonly see in the UK.
| Material | Typical lengths |
|---|---|
| Steel box section (SHS, RHS) and tube | 6m and 7.5m |
| Steel angle, flat and channel | 6m |
| Aluminium extrusion | 6m, some profiles 6.5m |
| Sawn and planed timber | 2.4m to 4.8m |
Need more than the calculator?
Two or more stock lengths
The app mixes stock lengths (say 6m and 7.5m) with their prices and picks the cheapest combination.
End trim and per-material kerf
Take a damaged end off every bar, and give the bandsaw and the mitre saw their own kerf.
Sheet and bar in one job (Pro)
A frame with a sheet-metal infill panel: the box section and the sheet in the same calculation and the same quote.
Straight answers
Try it on your own job
Free, in your browser, no account. Your cut list stays on your computer.