It also includes lumber (rough and dimensional), labor, and hardware (like drawer slides and knobs). If I am building a bedroom set or something where I would like to optimize over multiple pieces of furniture, the number of parts will go up. This edition allows 50 parts per project and 1000 copies per part.

This version is intended for the hobby user, but it has all the optimization of its big brothers. It is only available as a download, but has full support. This version only supports sheet goods, which (of course) is where the software really shines. What is a part and a copy? A simple table has two parts, top and legs one copy of top, four copies of legs. You can have a project with 25 different parts (I seldom get over 10 in a single cabinet or piece of furniture) and up to 50 copies of each part (may be a limitation if you are building a wine cellar or something with lots of compartments, but has never been a problem for me). This is similar to where I started 12 years ago. If you don't want to read on, the bottom line is that I love this software and recommend it highly.

And the software is so intuitive that almost no time is needed to learn it. Not only does it optimize the layout and material use, the software is sophisticated enough to allow for saw kerfs and the amount you want to trim to get rid of the dings on the edges of the sheet. Almost immediately it saved me a sheet of plywood - did a layout enough better that I needed one fewer sheets, worth more than the price I paid for the software. Finally (back in 2003) I sprang for the entry level version, about $30 in those ancient days. This is a piece of software that I didn't think I would need - how could it do a better job than me at laying out and optimizing the use of sheet goods. We receive a small commission if you click on the ads (selected by Google), or if you link to a product recommended by us. One-person business of woodworking and other crafts Software suggestions for the SoloWoodworker

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