Laser & CNC Nesting for Illustrator
True-shape nesting for laser beds and CNC routers: kerf allowance, part clearance, rotation steps, honest bed utilization.
The problem: bed time is money
A laser bed that runs half empty still burns the full perimeter of every part. On acrylic and ply, material plus machine time makes wasted space the most expensive kind. And unlike a plotter, a laser removes material as it cuts: the kerf has to be in the layout math, not in your head.
What NestPlug does instead
Set the sheet to your bed, 600×400mm here, set the clearance your parts need, add the kerf your machine measures, and calculate. Contour packing tucks gear teeth against brackets and plates, rotation steps turn long parts into the gaps, and the preview reports exactly what the bed will look like before you cut anything.
Kerf allowance, not guesswork
Kerf allowance adds the width the beam removes to every offset, so a layout calculated at 3mm clearance really has 3mm of material left between parts after cutting. Set it once from a test coupon and forget it.
Holes become real estate
Turn on Nest inside cutouts and the holes in donuts, rings and plates become usable space: small parts nest inside while the ring is still cut whole around them. Off by default, on when you want the extra yield.
How this run was set up
- Sheet: 600×400mm bed, 5mm edge padding
- Minimum distance: 3mm, kerf allowance 1.016mm, rotation step 15°
- Result: 48 of 48 placed, 56% packed, cluster 23×6.9in
Questions
Which machines does this work with?
Anything that cuts vectors you can prepare in Illustrator: CO2 and fiber lasers, CNC routers, waterjet, plasma. NestPlug lays out the parts; your usual export feeds the machine.
Can I keep parts at 0° for material grain?
Yes: rotation step 0° or a single fixed angle. Ply and grain-direction stock usually runs 0° or 90°, which the step setting handles directly.
What about parts with holes, do they nest inside?
That is the Nest inside cutouts option above. It is opt-in, so a normal run never puts a part inside a hole you meant to keep clear.
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