Pergola cut list on 6 m boards
A pergola frame cut from 6 m softwood — how many boards the optimizer needs compared with working down the cut list in order.
The job
A garden pergola needs rafters, beams, joists, braces and posts. The merchant stocks one length: 6 m softwood. The question at the trade counter is the only one that matters — how many boards do I buy? Guess high and the money sits in the yard as offcut; guess low and the job stops for a second delivery.
Inputs
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Stock length | 6.0 m |
| Saw kerf | 3.2 mm |
| End trim (per end) | 10 mm |
| Parts to cut (5 sizes) | 39 |
| Total cut length | 103.8 m |
How it was calculated
The five part sizes went in with their quantities, a 3.2 mm circular-saw kerf and 10 mm trimmed off each end of every board. The optimizer sorts parts longest-first and places each one in the board where it leaves the smallest usable remainder. The comparison row runs the same list the way it gets cut without a plan: top to bottom, one board at a time, a new board as soon as the next part will not fit.
What the calculators return
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Boards needed | 22 |
| Total offcut | 27.7 m |
| Waste share of boards used | 21.1% |
| Parts that did not fit | 0 |
Compared with the usual approach
| Item | Cutting the list in order | NestingCalc plan |
|---|---|---|
| Boards needed | 24 | 22 |
| Waste share | 27.6% | 21.1% |
| Total offcut | 39.7 m | 27.7 m |
Every number on this page is recomputed at build time by the calculators themselves — nothing is typed in by hand.
Takeaway
Same parts, same kerf, two fewer boards — and offcut falls from more than a quarter of the timber bought to about a fifth. On a one-off build that is a trip to the merchant saved. On a repeat production run it is the gap between a quote that holds and one that quietly loses money on every unit.