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first of all I'm sorry if I write something wrong, but English is not my native language and I'm not a professional woodworker.

I'm searching for application that will help me to plan alignment of OSB boards on walls, roof and floor.

I'm planning to build shed for chickens (sorry if correct name is different).
I'd like to use OSB boards that come in size 2500mm x 1250mm. Because I'd like to buy only the amount I need I'd like to plan how much I must order and how much wast I'll have.

I've tried searching over the internet, but I found the opposite of what I need, for example MaxCut or Optimik. Those applications are positioning items on single board. I need different thing - fill six rectangles with minimum amount of boards and minimum amount of waste.

I know I can draw that by hand, but I'm sure there must be tool that will help me do that.

I'm not sure if this StackExchange site is correct one to ask, but my question is woodworking related, so I thing this is correct place to ask for help.

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  • Welcome to WSE. I am not sure what you need an app for. If you size your outside dimensions to the module of the OSB sheet you will be using the material at its most efficient. If that is not applicable to your conditions please edit your question to include more details about your plan.
    – Ashlar ♦
    Commented Apr 8, 2017 at 2:03
  • You are looking for Nesting software. A quick Google search shows many sources, some with free downloads. Nesting is a common problem in manufacturing as well as for one-off projects by home craftsmen. That being said, you will have to learn to use a new piece of software, and in the long run, your time might be better used by drawing or by scaled paper cut- out solutions.
    – Ast Pace
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 16:26
  • @AstPace thank You for hint. As I wrote I'm not speaking English as native language so it was hard for me to even think of correct term to search in Google. I've looked at couple of applications which I found in Google, but they all are helping putting parts on single board to minimize waste. I want something different - fill large rectangle with smaller and minimize waste. Should I search for Nesting software or something else? I'll probably stick with cut-out's but I'd like to compare results.
    – Misiu
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 17:10
  • At least one "free" version,MyNesting, allows for single or multiple sheets of material.
    – Ast Pace
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 17:37

2 Answers 2

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I don't know that there is any such software but you could do this old-school.

Scale plan and paper
Using a scale plan and small pieces of paper cut to size to represent the OSB you can play with various placements of full and half/quarter sheets until you find an arrangement that uses the material as neatly as possible. Probably won't take long once you get started.

Build using the OSB to dictate sizes
Another way of looking at this is plan the sheds based on the size of the OSB, that way the dimensions of the building are based on the available panels which makes it a very efficient use of material. The chickens won't mind that their home isn't the size you were originally planning :-)

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Another method you could use would be to take the total surface area of everything you want to cover, then divide that by the surface area covered by a single OSB sheet. This would give you the approximate amount of OSB sheets needed, and then you could round up to give you the exact amount of OSB sheets needed.

E.g.

If the total surface area you need covered = 12 m^2

A single sheet of OSB covers: 2.5x1.25 = 3.125 m^2

12/3.125 = 3.84, so you would need approximately 4 sheets of OSB to cover the entire thing (taking into account near perfect cuts and placement).

Obviously this is not extremely precise as it doesn't take into account wastage, mistakes etc. , but it is a very easy estimating tool to get a minimum figure.

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