Cutlists

garyg66 · 30 Nov 2010, 18:51

hi
been using cutlist and was wondering if there is a way so when its opened in the spreadsheet it will give me totals of each wood of the same thickness x width ..eg if i have a list with

225x50(WxT)length 1400(L) and below that
225x50(WxT)length 450 (L)
as you can see same wood different lengths,need to be able to collate same wood all together to give total length of.

many thanx

garyg

Dave R · 30 Nov 2010, 21:24

Which cutlist plugin version are you using?

If you are using the current version (4.x), you can edit the CSV file in your favorite spreadsheet application to give you all sorts of info including a total of the length values for a given thickness.

garyg66 · 30 Nov 2010, 21:50

hi
thx for responding .i must be doing something wrong because i cant seem to manage that

Dave R · 30 Nov 2010, 22:39

Drop me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll see if I can help you out.

brandy20 · 2 Dec 2010, 07:21

It seems to be something more related to spreadsheet formula rather thant cutlist plugin. Am I wrong Dave?

Dave R · 2 Dec 2010, 11:06

No. You are correct. I think the OP is going to send me a file as an example so I can show him how to solve his problem.

vidy · 10 Jan 2011, 10:30

Dear Dave,

First i want to say that this cutlist plugin was really really helpful to us the wood worker.

But i have a request, is it possible in the next release the developer could have option to enable or disable the measure on the output list (ex: we use centimeter on our drawing and when i hit run on the plugin, the result is always come out with this format 123.0cm), which if we transfer it to excel file, it will be easier to do formula without the measure attach to the number, i mean if we were have that measure we must delete it one by one and manually..

Hopefully you can get what my point is, and hopefully there is any solution for this
Thank you very much, waiting for your comment on this one

Regards,

Dave R · 10 Jan 2011, 11:41

Vidy, you can already do that. It comes from SketchUp and not the plugin, though. Go to Model Info>Units and untick the box for "Display Units Format." This will prevent the units from being included in the CSV file. The plugin reads your settings there to determine how to display the dimensions.

For those who might want to do this with fractional inches set as the units, my experience is that Excel will convert some values to dates which seems like more work to fix than deleting a bunch of quote marks.

vidy · 10 Jan 2011, 12:49

Woow, thanks dave, its a fast reply, will definitely try this trick, i thought i missed that option on SU, thanks again..

Regards,

vidy · 19 Jan 2011, 10:02

Dear Dave,

just curious, is there any tips or something to be avoided, to get a faster calculation on using cutlist plugins, recently i have a file which is very slooow to calculate with cutlist on my laptop..

thanks,

Dave R · 19 Jan 2011, 11:09

I've never had a slow calculation for the cutlist. Even with the most complex models it has only taken a few seconds. The layout portion can take a little more time. Especially if you have a large number of parts. Is there a bunch of very small parts that perhaps don't need to be included in the layout output?

If you are willing to share your model, I could take a look at it and see if there is something that might be causing the slow down you are seeing. If you don't want to post it publicly send me a PM and I'll give you my e-mail address.

Bertier · 19 Jan 2011, 13:46

I experienced the slowest calcultaion time with cut list with the simplest model....

I even shared it with steve racz, he got the same result...

I ended up doing it another way...

Dave R · 19 Jan 2011, 14:42

What was it about the model that caused it to take so much time? and was it just on the layout portion or did it take a long time to make the cutlist, too?

vidy · 20 Jan 2011, 01:18

hi dave, glad if you can help, here is the file under SU6:

East Wardrobe

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regards,

Dave R · 20 Jan 2011, 02:01

I'll look at it. You know you could have just uploaded it here.

Dave R · 20 Jan 2011, 02:21

I can see a number of issues with your model. Cutlist does take a long time to generate the layout because it is doing the work of laying out all those shelves and side panels on solid lumber. It's taking a lot of time to split all those panels up to fit onto narrow boards. I'm guessing you are making them from sheet goods, though. So for those you should have added a sheet materials word to the component names.

Your modeling is rather inefficient which also doesn't help. It would be a big help if you made components from the beginning instead of groups. You have a bunch of components now that all have the same name. How are you going to identify what they are in the cutlist? I also notice that your dimensions aren't very precise. that won't really affect the cutlist but it could affect the finished piece when it is built.

vidy · 20 Jan 2011, 05:41

thanks for a fast reply, as always dave

yes, i know this furniture i made before we know the cutlist plugin, it is made to fit naming on the calculation sheet at my office, and yes it is not precise, since my boss are always want our piece of cut was including the waste on the jointing process..

Hence i know, and will starting to rebuild it all over from beginning again, i think your previous post asking my old question about tips on using cutlist plugins.

thanks again dave.. cheers.

regards,
vidy

Dave R · 20 Jan 2011, 13:43

Vidy, may I make a few suggestions?

Set Precision to at least two places right of the decimal. You may not actually build to that precision but it makes it easier to identify dimension errors in the model. You can use the cut list to help identify components that may not be drawn correctly. If you know that you didn't intentionally draw something, say 50.03mm wide but the cutlist reports it as 50.03mm you can go back to the model and check to see why the dimension is not 50mm. At that point you can decide whether or not to fix the dimension or ignore it. If you don't know the dimension is not accurate, you won't have the opportunity to correct it and may get an unpleasant surprise during construction.
As you draw the parts make them components, not groups. Give them names such that they can be easily identified. Make copies of the components as you go and flip (mirror) them as appropriate. Reuse the same components as much as you can to avoid having to redraw them. this will improve your efficiency and make your boss happy.
Minimize the amount of nesting of components. Multiple nest layers can just create more work so be discerning about how you make them.
Build the model closer to the origin. I would start on the origin and work back behind the solid red and to the right of the solid green. By staying close to the origin you have easy access to the axis lines for reference.

Keep at it. You're doing a good job.

vidy · 21 Jan 2011, 00:59

thanks a lot dave, you are really kind..

regards,

Dave R · 21 Jan 2011, 01:15

You're welcome.

Tell my wife.