Can Solidworks 2006 figure out how much stainless steel 316 material I'm going to have to order tia

Greetings All

Does Solidworks 2006 have a built addin that automatically calculates the
best nesting layout to optimize material utilization?
Like BlankNest http://www.forming.com/blanknest.htm if so where is it?

I'm trying to figure out how much material I'm going to have to order.
Tia sal2

PS: The shape I'm working with is not complex. The objects look like
washers just vary in size from 1 inch to 9 inches trying to figure out how
much stainless steel 316 I would have to order

 

Other than manually placing each washer out there & arranging them until you
think it looks best -- you will have to purchase that software you just
mentioned. The number of people that ask for this functionality is pretty
high - so I suggest all of you make an enhancement request for it to be in
solidworks & hurry up & wait while they implement it. If you cant wait then
purchase an add in.

or another thought is to search the net for "free nesting software" & see if
there is any freeware stuff available where you can do this after exporting
your flat shape via DWG or DXF (out side of solidworks)

If found one here but it is limited to only seeing it on screen -- however
that appears to be all you want anyway.
http://www.optimizecutter.com/download.html

Hope that helps.

Steve T.

 

Hello,

Check out PLUS 2D - Nestiing Software from www.nirvanatec.com

If the demo version does not suffice, and it is a one off job,
you may write to support(AT)nirvanatec.com and they will
optimize the job for you.
shrikanth
Nirvana Technologies.

 

SolidWorks World 2006 had a vendor with a nesting add-in.

www.solidnest.com

Bo

 

The website for solidnest says it's based on Sigmanest. I used
Sigmanest at my last job and it did a fantastic job of nesting parts,
much better than any other I'd used before or since.

Sigmanest used to have free demo software available. You could use the
demo program to view a nest, but not save or export it. Ok for a quick
look.

http://www.sigmanest.com/

Diego