Furniture design software should optimize parts layouts
Furniture layout software saves time and money
A user sent in a project because he was having some difficulty with the optimized layout diagrams. Remember cut lists are different. They just list parts.
So, as I often do, I imported his project and took a look at what might be wrong. Sometimes I find things that need to be fixed in SketchList 3D furniture design software. Sometimes I find a teachable moment as they say.
This was more of a teachable moment.
But it requires a somewhat complicated explanation so pay attention
I think I did another sheet good layout video a while back – but this one is more in the mode of troubleshooting and optimization gone wild.
Why optimize? The material layout optimizer can save a great deal of money by minimizing scrap. Also, it takes a lot less time to print out the computer-generated layout diagrams then it does to do them by hand.
There are three common sources of problems when you encounter difficulties with the optimizer.
These are as follows.
- Material is used in design in the project but has not been added to the stock database. The stock database is the place where the material in its size is kept. SketchList 3-D material layout tool uses materials from the stock database in order to work. You cannot optimize material unless you have one.
- The Optimizer must know which of the dimensions of any given board is that board’s thickness. One of the first steps the material layout tool takes is to sort by thickness and match that the thickness of the source material.
- Finally, if you are concerned at all about the direction of the grain in your material and your final project, the optimizer must know which direction you want to place the grain.
Of all the emails I see asking about the optimizer not working properly the cause is 99.99% attributable to one of these three sources.
For a general discussion of layout follow this link.
Watch the video.
