Rebar & reinforcing

Rebar cutting optimizer

Reinforcing bar, straight off the schedule: enter your cut lengths and quantities and it nests them onto 6 m and 12 m stock for the fewest bars. It reads a bar bending schedule as a cut list, uses the offcuts on your rack, and since bar is priced by weight, that is real money. Free, no account.

Settings

Save material

Save labour

Save money

Stock you can buy ?

Leave qty empty for unlimited supply.

Offcuts you already have ?

Free lengths on your rack. Used when they help; never counted as purchases.

Required parts ?

Tab past the last field to add a row. Enter jumps down a column. Alt+N adds a row, Alt+P opens paste, Ctrl+Enter calculates. Full guide.

Reinforcing bar as it is stocked

Reinforcing bar (AU/NZ/UK/EU) 6.0, 12.0 m
Longer stock lengths 9.0, 15.0, 18.0 m
Reinforcing bar (US) 20, 40, 60 ft
Coil, decoiled to length (small sizes) cut to order
Epoxy-coated and stainless 6.0, 12.0 m
Your offcut rack remnants you keep

What each cutting method removes

Hydraulic shear or cropper 0 (nothing lost)
Bolt cutter or manual cutter 0 (nothing lost)
Bandsaw 0.8 to 1.5 mm
Abrasive cut-off disc 1 to 3 mm
Circular rebar saw 2 to 3 mm

Most rebar is sheared or cropped, which removes no material, so kerf is genuinely zero. Set it to zero only if that is how you cut; a disc or a saw takes its slot out of every bar. More on kerf.

Cut it straight from the bar bending schedule

A bar bending schedule (BBS) is already a cut list: every bar mark, its shape code, cut length and quantity. Feed the cut lengths and quantities in and the optimiser nests them onto 6 m and 12 m stock for the fewest bars. The cut length is the straight length before bending, with the bending deductions already applied, so enter that, not the out-to-out dimensions off the shape.

Offcuts are stock, especially at these prices

Reinforcing steel is priced by weight, so a long offcut is money on the rack, not scrap. Enter what you have and the plan uses it, first or only when it saves a full bar, and set a minimum useful remnant so it stops leaving you 200 mm ends nobody can lap. On a big pour the reused offcuts add up to whole bars. More on offcut waste.

6 m or 12 m: it changes the waste and the handling

Twelve metre bar nests tighter and gives fewer laps, but it is heavier to handle and its offcuts are longer when they fall. Six metre bar is easier on site but wastes more on long members. Price both stock rows, run the job each way, and let the plan show you the trade in bars and in dollars instead of guessing at the merchant.

FAQ

What is bar nesting?
Bar nesting is fitting all the cut lengths from your schedule onto as few stock bars as possible, allowing for the way you cut. It is the same 1D cutting stock problem the rest of this site solves; on rebar the goal is usually the fewest 12 m or 6 m bars, and the least steel left on the floor.
Can it work from a bar bending schedule?
Yes. A BBS gives you cut length and quantity per bar mark, which is exactly the input the optimiser needs. Group by bar diameter and grade, since a 16 mm cut cannot come off a 12 mm bar, and run each group; the plan tells you how many stock bars of each size to order.
Does it add a wastage allowance for laps?
Put the lap into the cut length where the schedule calls for it, so the optimiser nests the real length you will cut. It does not add a blanket wastage percentage of its own: it gives you the exact bars a correct plan needs, which is a truer figure than a flat ten percent on top.
How many bar marks can I optimise at once?
Up to 500 pieces a job free with no account; the $5 Hobby plan takes it to 1,000 and Maker up runs any size. A whole slab or a level of columns usually fits the free tier, a big schedule sits on a plan or the same solver on the API, and every plan is checked against your inputs before you see it.

Every plan is checked before you see it

Cut by cut: every piece present, everything inside the bar, blade width included. When the green badge shows, no plan on earth uses fewer bars for your cuts, and we publish the jobs that prove it.