Guillotine cutting vs nested layouts

A guillotine cut runs straight from one edge of a piece to the opposite edge. A guillotine layout is one you can cut entirely with cuts like that: split the sheet in two, split each part in two again, and keep going until every part is free. A nested layout drops that rule, so parts can interlock in ways only a CNC router or a laser can cut.

Which one fits your shop

• Panel saws, table saws and track saws cut edge to edge, so they need a guillotine layout. A layout that is not guillotine cannot be cut on them without stopping mid-sheet.
• CNC routers and lasers follow any path, so they can cut nested layouts, which sometimes use less material.
• Roll goods are usually cut across the roll and then along it, which is a guillotine pattern too.

What NestSmart plans

NestSmart plans sheets and rolls as guillotine layouts of rectangular parts, with an explicit cut order you can follow at the saw. It does not plan free-form nested layouts. Linear stock is cut to length, so every cut there is a crosscut. To spend less time at the saw, choose Fewest cuts or Least blade travel as the priority; see optimization modes.