Cutlist or Cutlister?
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It's been a long time since I looked or even thought about Cutlister. I have vague memories of it not being the right choice for me. I use CutList, though, and it works just fine on SketchUp 2015. Get the most current version through the Extension Warehouse.
Unfortunately the author of CutList passed away unexpectedly late last winter. I hope someone else will get to take over development although I think it's decent as is.
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Thanks for the reply Dave. That's sad news that the author passed last winter.
I've just downloaded CutList and I'll give it a try. Good to know it plays nice in 2015.
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Doug, do you expect to use CSV exports to Excel and do you use Fractional units?
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Yes I'll be exporting as a CSV. I mostly use the 32mm metric system for cabinetry, but for building projects I use fractional Imperial. In excel though, I enter everything decimal and use a fractional display format.
Is there a caution with fractions?
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Not really a caution but the code is written so fractions less than 1 inch are displayed with a leading 0. For example, you would get 0 3/4" instead of 3/4". I revised the code so it drops the leading 0. I have the corrected file on my PC at home and could send it to you via a PM.
At least for the way I use the plugin and the CSV file, there's not really anything to enter after generating the file with the plugin. For me there's more info than I need so I wind up deleting some columns, rearranging some columns and then reordering the rows so the components are listed in the order I want them.
I guess there is one thing to be concerned with. Don't use commas in component definition names. Since the file is a comma separated values file, added commas can throw off the data in the cells.
I've done a couple of blog posts on using the plugin. If you haven't seen them, you might find them useful.
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You might also want to take a look at Joe Zeh's Cutlist Bridge plugin
It adds features to export to cutlist plus fx as well as spreadsheets and to handle ideas such as subassemblies and orientation of a board's grain with respect to its length and width.
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@dave r said:
I revised the code so it drops the leading 0. I have the corrected file on my PC at home and could send it to you via a PM.
I'd appreciate that, thanks.
@dave r said:
I guess there is one thing to be concerned with. Don't use commas in component definition names. Since the file is a comma separated values file, added commas can throw off the data in the cells.
Never use commas in my naming conventions, so won't be an issue... but definitely a good rule to apply in any context.
@dave r said:
I've done a couple of blog posts on using the plugin. If you haven't seen them, you might find them useful.
I actually just finished reading this one on Design. Click. Build.
— and yes it was very useful as a review of how to use it effectively. Works essentially the same as Cutlister (which was a fork of the original CutList), but it's been a while since I used it, so your tutorial caught me up. Lots of great stuff on that blog, so again thanks!
I'll be using it on my mac, so I hope that an svg export opened in Firefox will give me the sheet layout function. (I understand that there are issue with the web dialogs in Safari?). Do you use it with your mac or only on Windows?
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Yes. That's another one. I gave it a try when Joe first released it. It is very extensive and it can do a lot of cool stuff but I found it difficult and too time consuming to set up for what I use out of a cutlist. Steve's is straightforward with almost nothing to set up. It'll export to CutList Pro for those who use that program.
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I use it on both the Mac and PC but to be honest, I don't need or care much about the layout output. The SVG should open in Firefox but they should open in Preview, too, I think.
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I agree Dave, I have never been much impressed with the layout facility. I mainly make furniture, and the layout of parts into a board provides no help when you have boards of random width and length, want to select for figure, or need to work around flaws - which for me is every time. However, the generation of a cutlist is invaluable.
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@slbaumgartner said:
I agree Dave, I have never been much impressed with the layout facility. I mainly make furniture, and the layout of parts into a board provides no help when you have boards of random width and length, want to select for figure, or need to work around flaws - which for me is every time. However, the generation of a cutlist is invaluable.
For sure it's of little use for board layout, but sheet goods layout doesn't have the same range of issues... so there is value in providing at least a starting point for material optimization.
I don't know how good/sophisticated the layout algorythms are in CutList: I could never get the function to work in CutLister, but I will at least give it a try with CutList.
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@dave r said:
Yes. That's another one. I gave it a try when Joe first released it. It is very extensive and it can do a lot of cool stuff but I found it difficult and too time consuming to set up for what I use out of a cutlist. Steve's is straightforward with almost nothing to set up. It'll export to CutList Pro for those who use that program.
I think you're referencing Joe Zeh's CutList Bridge plugin for CutList Plus, which seems a comprehensive —though somewhat complex— software combo for production cabinet shops, but likely overkill for most individual woodworkers. And CutList Plus is reasonably costly ($249 for the non-brain-dead version and $495 for the unlimited version), so maybe not an interesting option for non-professionals or one-man shops.
Cutlister was Dana Woodman's extensible, open-source fork of CutList — which he completely rewrote with some added features, and a cleaned-up interface. He eventually abandoned developing it, but gave anyone leave to take over. The code-base is still hosted on GitHub: https://github.com/danawoodman/Google-Sketchup-Cutlister-Plugin
At the time it worked better for me, though I had both it and CutList installed in SU8. In fact, in my reply to slbaumgartner I stated I couldn't get layout to work in CutlIster: there's a good reason for that — my faulty memory! Layout was never implemented in Cutlister, but I remember trying to get it to work (unsuccessfully) on my mac in what must have been Cutlist.
I just downloaded CutLister from the SCF store and will test it in 2015 to see if it still works. If it does work —and I get ambitious— I may do a comparative review of the two... but don't hold your breath!
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I agree with slbaumgartner about the value of the layout function on Cutlist. But the listing of pieces and the board footage is quite helpful, especiallly for a big or complex job. My friend Greg Paolini, who makes Arts & Crafts furniture in Asheville, North Carolina, says it's a good idea to double the board-foot number, to allow for grain matching, defects, mistakes, and the like.
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Doug, you're right about CutList starting out as Dana Woodman's Plugin. I had forgotten that. Steve made a good thing better.
If you're going to use the layout portion, don't forget to add a number in for the saw kerf. It is blank as it comes out of the box.
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@db11 said:
I think you're referencing Joe Zeh's CutList Bridge plugin for CutList Plus, which seems a comprehensive —though somewhat complex— software combo for production cabinet shops, but likely overkill for most individual woodworkers. And CutList Plus is reasonably costly ($249 for the non-brain-dead version and $495 for the unlimited version), so maybe not an interesting option for non-professionals or one-man shops!
To clarify: Joe Zeh's CutList Bridge is a plugin for SketchUp, not for CutList Plus. It generates CSV output that is set up for use by CutList Plus (hence "Bridge"), but can be read and used by any spreadsheet. The CSV is similar to what you get from the Cutlist plugin. You don't need CutList Plus to use Cutlist Bridge.
That said, I agree with the comments that CutList Bridge is complex and requires additional work in SketchUp to use. Individual tastes and needs will determine whether it is right for each person. Since I'm the one who brought it up, I should confess: most of the time I just use Cutlist because it does as much as I need.
Steve
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@db11 said:
For sure it's of little use for board layout, but sheet goods layout doesn't have the same range of issues... so there is value in providing at least a starting point for material optimization.
I don't know how good/sophisticated the layout algorythms are in CutList: I could never get the function to work in CutLister, but I will at least give it a try with CutList.
I mean this as discussion, not argument
:Even for sheet goods, the layout facilities in CutList don't take orientation of the figure into account. It is fine if you are working with, say, MDF. It's also ok for hidden surfaces such as cabinet sides, bottoms, and backs. But orientation matters a lot for fancy-veneered plywood or photo-laminate. For these, I always end up needing to rotate so many pieces from CutList's orientation that the initial layout is nearly worthless.
To your second point, I have never been impressed with the layout algorithms in CutList. I've seen them propose a layout that called for a second sheet when those pieces could be fit into the first sheet by a bit of rearrangement and reorientation.
Steve
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Steve,
I agree with you that the layout portion is not especially good in the CutList plugin. Most of the projects I draw are intended to be made of solid wood and I don't think there's a whole lot of point in generating a layout for that. The plugin can generate a file for CutList Plus which probably does a better job of setting orientation for sheet materials anyway.
I know that Steve had been working on improving the layout section of the plugin shortly before his death. He and I had been discussing it only the week before. It's unfortunate that we won't see his improvements now. Maybe someone else will be able to take it further, though.
He was a good friend and I for one miss him.
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@slbaumgartner said:
I mean this as discussion, not argument
That's the way I understood it too, so I hope I didn't sound like I was arguing back... just agreeing that for board layout there's too many variables for it to be useful, but that mightn't be the case with (some) sheet goods.
@slbaumgartner said:
Even for sheet goods, the layout facilities in CutList don't take orientation of the figure into account.
That would make it fairly useless for veneered sheet goods (or the laminated bamboo we often use) I wasn't sure whether it allowed you to specify grain direction in layout.
@slbaumgartner said:
To your second point, I have never been impressed with the layout algorithms in CutList. I've seen them propose a layout that called for a second sheet when those pieces could be fit into the first sheet by a bit of rearrangement and reorientation.
That's disappointing, and by your overall account it would seem layout in its current incarnation has limited value — or least limited use cases where it might be of value.
@dave r said:
I know that Steve had been working on improving the layout section of the plugin shortly before his death. He and I had been discussing it only the week before. It's unfortunate that we won't see his improvements now. Maybe someone else will be able to take it further, though.
That's too bad that he didn't have the chance to finish his work. Much worse that he passed too soon and without much forewarning (if I understood well from your earlier post)
@dave r said:
He was a good friend and I for one miss him.
I never had the opportunity to interact with him, but I appreciate his contributions and I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.
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