Nesting for laser cutting in Ireland

Irish laser shops buy metal by the kilo and sell parts by the piece. Nesting is where that margin is won or lost. Quick Nesting runs in the browser, works in millimetres, and packs your DXF or SVG parts onto the sheet sizes your stockist actually delivers.

Built around how Irish shops buy sheet

Stock in Ireland and the UK is normally quoted per kilogram and delivered as 2500x1250 mm or 3000x1500 mm plate, with 2440x1220 mm board for routing. Quick Nesting lets you save each of those as a material preset with its own kerf and spacing, so a job is nested against real stock instead of an idealised sheet.

Costs are shown in the currency and units you work in, and the sheet price estimator includes the 23% Irish standard VAT rate so the number you hand a customer is the number you meant.

• Millimetre-first workflow, no unit conversion
• Presets for 2500x1250, 3000x1500 and 2440x1220 stock
• EUR costing, with VAT shown separately
• Remnant tracking so plate offcuts stay usable stock

Fibre and CO2 kerf, handled per material

A fibre laser on 2 mm mild steel cuts a kerf of roughly 0.10-0.20 mm. A CO2 laser on acrylic is closer to 0.15-0.40 mm. Store the value once per material and every nest offsets the toolpath correctly, so parts come off the bed on size rather than a tenth undersize.

Common-line cutting shares an edge between two adjacent parts, which removes duplicate cuts, shortens cycle time and cuts pierce count on thicker material.

What it costs you to nest badly

At 75% utilisation a quarter of every sheet you pay for leaves as skeleton scrap. On a 3 mm mild steel 2500x1250 sheet weighing about 74 kg, that quarter is roughly 18 kg of metal per sheet. Multiply by your weekly sheet count and the gap between a rectangular layout and a true-shape nest becomes a real line in the accounts.

Use the free calculators to put your own numbers on it before you change anything.

FAQ

Does it work with LightBurn, RDWorks or Trotec Ruby?

Yes. Nest the parts, export DXF or SVG, and open the result in your controller software as you would any other file.

Do I need to install anything?

No. The nesting engine runs in your browser, so it works on the shop PC without an IT request, and your files stay on the device.

Can I work in millimetres?

Millimetres are the default. Inches are available if you also run imperial drawings.

Is there a free tier?

Yes, the free tier covers occasional nesting. See the pricing page for what Pro and Studio add.