Send to the Cut List Optimizer

Once a calculator has told you what to cut, the next question is how many sticks to buy. The OPTIMIZE button sends the cut lengths straight to the Cut List Optimizer, which packs them onto stock and tells you how many boards to order. Nothing is retyped. The lengths go across at full precision, not as the rounded figures on the screen.

OPTIMIZE is on two calculators: Stairs and Hip & Valley.

Pro. Stairs, Hip & Valley and the Cut List Optimizer are all Pro calculators. See Free and Pro.

Step by step

Bottom of the Stairs screen with your own measurements in, on the 16-riser default stair. MATERIALS lists Stringers (2x12) — 18' each 4 pcs; Treads (5/4x12) — cut @ 3' 0" 17 pcs; Risers (1x8) — cut @ 3' 0" 18 pcs; 4x4 stringer posts — one under each stringer at each support line, on floor framing built for its load — or bear the line on a wall or landing instead (IRC R301.1: a load path to the foundation); no footing indoors 6 pcs; Kicker plate (2x4) — cut @ 3' 0" 1 pcs; Handrail (one side, IRC R311.7.8) — 16' stock — cut ≈ 15' 7-1/4" 1 pcs; and Handrail brackets — 48" o.c. max 4 pcs. Under it the lit button row: CUT SHEET with a list icon inside its right end, behind a hairline, and SAVE the same width beside it on the first line; CUT LIST, SEND LIST and OPTIMIZE on the second. RESET sits beside the help button. — The bottom of Stairs with its own measurements in. OPTIMIZE is the last button on the second line.

Work out the job in Stairs or Hip & Valley with your own measurements. While every input is still a sample value, the button row at the bottom is dimmed.
Scroll to the bottom of the calculator. OPTIMIZE is on the second line of buttons, after CUT LIST and SEND LIST. Tap it.
The Cut List Optimizer opens with the parts already in it. STOCK LENGTH is set to a suggested length, and each part is a row under CUTS, one line a cut: CUT 1, its length, and × its quantity.
Check STOCK LENGTH against what your yard carries and change it if you need to. Set KERF for your blade. Sending parts does not change the kerf.
Read the result at the top. "Every cut fits the stock" means the list packs. Then use the optimizer as usual: add rows, change quantities, export a cut sheet or start a cut list.

Cut List Optimizer with STOCK LENGTH 12' 0", KERF 1/8", and three cut rows: 5' 6" × 8, 2' 10-1/2" × 12 and 1' 10-1/4" × 10. The answer bar at the top reads 9 boards, a green Every cut fits the stock and 10.1% waste incl. kerf — offcuts + sawdust; a kerf between parts, one more before an offcut. The top of RESULTS, Board 1 to Board 4, is under the cuts. — The optimizer with a list in it. Sent parts arrive as rows like these.

What gets sent

The optimizer packs one kind of stock at a time, so each calculator sends the one set of parts that comes off the same stock.

Stairs sends the stringers: one row, at the tip-to-tip length of the board, with the quantity from STRINGERS. Tip to tip is the board the stock has to hold. It is longer than the floor-to-floor diagonal. Treads and risers are not sent because they come off different stock.
Hip & Valley sends the jacks: one row for each jack length, at the full length of the stick including the tail. The quantity is the pairs at each corner multiplied by CORNERS (VALLEYS in Valley mode). The hip or valley itself and the commons are not sent.
The suggested stock length is the next even-foot length that holds the longest part. It stops at 24'. When the longest part is over that, Stairs says so under the buttons before you send.

Things to know

Sending replaces the list. The parts take the place of whatever rows were in the optimizer.
Back returns to the calculator that sent them. The stair or the roof is still there as you left it, so you can change it and tap OPTIMIZE again.
They arrive once. After the parts land they are yours to edit. Leaving the optimizer and coming back does not overwrite your changes. Tap OPTIMIZE again to send a fresh set.

If it doesn't work

OPTIMIZE is dimmed. Every input is still the sample value. The line under the buttons names every dimmed button on that screen, ending with "or send parts to the optimizer." Change any input.
The upgrade screen opened instead of the optimizer. The Cut List Optimizer needs Pro. The parts are held for 15 minutes, so if you unlock Pro straight away they are there when the optimizer opens. After that, tap OPTIMIZE again.
Nothing happened. There was nothing to send. Parts with no length or a quantity of zero are left out, and if that leaves none the optimizer does not open. On Hip & Valley this means the result has no jacks.
The optimizer says DOES NOT FIT STOCK. A part is longer than STOCK LENGTH. This happens when a stringer or jack is longer than the 24' suggestion. Enter the stock you will really use. If nothing that long exists, the piece has to be made another way.

Send to the Cut List Optimizer

Step by step

What gets sent

Things to know

If it doesn't work

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