---
title: "Pergola cut list on 6 m boards"
description: "A pergola frame cut from 6 m softwood — how many boards the optimizer needs compared with working down the cut list in order."
image: "https://nestingcalc.com/og-default.png"
url: "https://nestingcalc.com/case-studies/pergola-cut-list/"
locale: "en"
---

[Case studies](https://nestingcalc.com/case-studies/)

# 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.

2 boards saved

21.1% offcut waste

39 parts cut

## 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.

## Run it yourself

[Linear cutting calculator](https://nestingcalc.com/linear-cutting-calculator/)

Also used: [Board feet calculator](https://nestingcalc.com/board-feet-calculator/) , [Lumber weight calculator](https://nestingcalc.com/lumber-weight-calculator/)

[Case studies](https://nestingcalc.com/case-studies/) [Cutting optimizer benchmarks](https://nestingcalc.com/benchmarks/)

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