MOACUTLaser material planning
Laser Cutting Sheet Nesting Workflow
Use MOACUT to estimate stock sheets and inspect rectangular placement before production. Keep laser power, speed, focus, heat effects, compensation, and cut sequencing in the separate process and CAM plan where they belong.
Last updated: August 31, 2026Choose laser jobs that fit MOACUT's rectangular model
MOACUT nests rectangles described by width, height, and quantity. It is directly applicable when the deliverables themselves are rectangular—for example, rectangular plates, panels, labels, blanks, or tiles. It can also provide a conservative sheet estimate from rectangular envelopes, but an envelope layout is not the same as true contour nesting.
If a job contains circles, letters, irregular outlines, or parts that can interlock, use software that reads the actual vector geometry for the final nest. MOACUT does not inspect an SVG or DXF part shape and does not calculate no-fit polygons.
1. Prepare the sheet and rectangular part list
- Enter the real stock width and height in millimetres. Verify protective-film edges, usable remnants, and supplier tolerances before relying on a preset.
- Enter finished rectangular width, height, and quantity for every part type.
- For larger lists, prepare CSV rows as Width, Height, Quantity. The current importer reads positive integer dimensions.
- Check total quantity. Signed-in free accounts support up to 10 part types and 30 pieces; larger jobs require the current Pro entitlement, and the calculator caps a job at 10,000 pieces.
The calculation expands quantities to individual rectangles, sorts larger-area rectangles first, and searches bottom-left candidate positions. A new sheet is allocated when the next rectangle cannot fit on any current sheet.
2. Enter process spacing and sheet edge margin separately
The MOACUT Kerf field becomes the required spacing between neighboring rectangles. Determine that planning allowance from the actual laser, material, thickness, compensation method, and production rule. Do not copy a value from a different machine or material as a universal setting.
Edge Margin reserves an equal border on all four sides. For example, a 5 mm margin on a 914 × 1829 mm sheet leaves 904 × 1819 mm available for rectangle bounds. Margin may account for an unusable edge or a holding requirement, while kerf controls part-to-part separation.
A positive gap can reserve geometric space, but MOACUT does not decide whether that gap is sufficient for heat accumulation, melting, discoloration, tip-up, gas flow, or material support. Validate those effects with the actual process.
3. Allow rotation only when orientation is interchangeable
With rotation enabled, MOACUT may swap width and height by 90° at a candidate position. This often fills narrow regions in a rectangular nest. Disable rotation when text direction, printed graphics, grain, brushed finish, polarization, film direction, or another material property makes the orientation significant.
The current control applies globally to the calculation. If one group may rotate and another must not, separate planning runs may be clearer than treating all parts as equivalent.
4. Read sheet count, utilization, scrap, and the drawings together
| MOACUT output | What it tells a laser planner | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Required Sheets | How many stock rectangles the current placement used. | Whether a different contour-aware arrangement could do better. |
| Material Utilization | Pure rectangular part area ÷ full area of allocated sheets. | Mass loss, actual beam-removed area, or irregular contour yield. |
| Scrap | 100% minus utilization, including all unoccupied sheet area. | Which remnants are practically reusable in future jobs. |
| Sheet drawing | Placed rectangle dimensions, rotations, margin, and per-sheet utilization. | Laser head path, pierce points, leads, or cutting sequence. |
Worked example: mixed rectangular laser blanks
The 1 mm spacing in this example is an illustrative calculator input, not a recommendation for a particular laser or material.
The job contains 22 rectangles. Their pure area is:
| Output | Verified MOACUT result | Planning reading |
|---|---|---|
| Required sheets | 1 | All 22 rectangles are placed on one sheet. |
| Used area | 0.794 m² | Sum of the original rectangle areas; spacing is not added. |
| Material utilization | 47.5% | 794,000 ÷ 1,671,706 mm², rounded to one decimal. |
| Scrap | 52.5% | The complement of utilization across the full sheet. |
The layout uses both original and 90°-rotated orientations, which is visible in the SVG drawing. These values were obtained from the current MOACUT margin, rotation, placement, and reporting logic. They describe the rectangular planning case only; they do not estimate the yield of irregular shapes inside those rectangles.
5. Use supported outputs for a controlled handoff
The calculator displays each sheet as responsive SVG in the browser. That is an on-screen visualization; the current interface does not provide a separate SVG-file download. Browser printing uses a rasterized sheet image.
Authenticated Pro users can request server-generated DXF or vector PDF exports. DXF contains metric 1:1 sheet, margin, rectangular part outlines, and dimension labels; multiple sheets are delivered as individual DXFs in a ZIP. Vector PDF produces 1:1 pages with the corresponding rectangular drawing. These exports communicate the layout, but they do not contain laser power, speed, focus, compensation, lead-ins, pierce strategy, cut order, or machine code.
6. Complete laser process decisions outside MOACUT
Before production, verify actual vector geometry, contour compensation, minimum feature size, heat-sensitive spacing, protective film, assist gas, focus, power, speed, pierce behaviour, support and tip-up risk, common-line eligibility, cut sequence, origin, and machine safety. MOACUT neither calculates nor validates these settings.
For purchasing, also consider damaged stock, test cuts, setup pieces, quality rejects, and inventory policy. The Estimated Material Cost card multiplies required sheet count by entered sheet price only.