True nesting vs part-by-part nesting — two kinds, two pipeline orders (Jordan 2026-08-27)

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rulingA decision by Aristide or Jordan. True because it was decided; it can be superseded, but it cannot be stale.

Content last changed 2026-08-27 — computed from the item itself, not typed.

Ruling (Jordan, 2026-08-27), verbatim: 'When the same part is duplicated over and over (we call this true nesting). For true nesting, the nesting process should come after the toolpath is established, that way we use one short piece of GCode duplicated over and over. We also have nesting that applies to several unique shapes (Torongo files) where nesting would happen before the toolpath is established. We call this part-by-part nesting.'

What each means

• True nesting — one part × N (the LS1156258 384-piece sheet, the 3A76 lattice sheets). Tool the SINGLE part completely — leads, cut order, slug tabs — then nest the finished toolpath: one short block of G-code duplicated per placement (the shop's arrays work this way; M98-style repetition is the natural post shape). The top-of-CLAUDE.md pipeline order (lead/cut-order → nest) is exactly this order.
• Part-by-part nesting — several unique shapes on one sheet; Jordan's shop word for the files is Torongo files. The nest is laid out FIRST, and the toolpath (leads, order, tabs) is established afterwards on the assembled sheet.

Inference — CONFIRMED by Jordan (2026-08-27, '1. Agreed.')

True nesting is why MetaCam's Layout Array spacing measures the TOOLPATH bounding box (leads included) and why the flip-every-other-column trick aligns pierce points — the thing being arrayed is a toolpath, not bare geometry. Raised as my flagged inference from the two 2026-08-27 screenshots; Jordan ratified it same day, so it now reads as agreed fact.

Consequences

• The nest↔tooling feedback loop takes two shapes: in true nesting the operator re-tools ONE part and re-nests; in part-by-part they re-tool contours in place on the sheet.
• Nest-stage code must know which kind a job is; the array/flip/spread modal (pin nest-spacing-operator-prompt) is the true-nesting face, the Torongo multi-part layouts are the part-by-part face (split_parts lineage).
• Cut order across a true nest = per-placement order of one proven sequence; across a part-by-part nest it is computed over the whole sheet.