02Email your drawingFrom your own email app, with your estimate.
03Get a formal quoteIn writing, after we review the drawing.
04Accept and pay the depositThe deposit stated in your formal quote.
Cut and collect
05We cut your partsProduction starts after the deposit is received, on the timing in your formal quote.
06Pay the balanceIn full, before the parts are released.
07Collect your partsCollection only. The location is confirmed in your formal quote or our order correspondence.
Nothing to pay for an estimate or a quote. The website takes no orders or payments, and an
estimate does not reserve material, stock, machine time or a production slot.
Deposit before production. The deposit stated in your formal quote is
payable before production starts.
Balance before release. The remaining balance is paid in full, and the payment has cleared, before
your parts are released.
Collection only. We do not deliver. The collection location is confirmed in your formal quote or our order correspondence.
Changes, cancellations, ownership and your consumer rights are set out in our Terms of Trade.
What an estimate is
Online estimates are indicative only. An estimate is a budget figure for material and cutting,
worked out in your browser from the material, dimensions and quantities you enter. It is not a quote, an offer
or an order. It does not hold a price, and it does not reserve material, stock, machine time or a production
slot. Nothing on this website takes an order or a payment.
After we review your drawing, our formal written quote confirms the final price, whether the material is
available, whether the parts can be made as drawn, any tolerances, the lead time and the collection
arrangements. An estimate covers only the items it shows (see what is not included).
The deposit stated in your formal quote is required before production starts, and
the remaining balance is payable in full before your parts are released for collection. Collection only: we do
not deliver.
Our goods and services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing on this page, in an estimate, in a formal quote or in our
Terms of Trade excludes, restricts or modifies a right or remedy you have under the
Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded.
How the total is built
The estimator applies the same six steps to every job, and shows each line so you can follow the arithmetic.
01
Price of one part
material + cutting + pierces, rounded to the cent
Material is charged on the part’s net area in the grade and thickness you chose, cutting on the length of every outline and hole, and pierces at one for each closed outline. The price of one part is rounded to the cent before anything is multiplied.
02
Each line
price of one part × quantity
So the unit price you see, multiplied by the quantity, always equals the line total.
03
Parts subtotal
sum of every line
Each different part is its own line with its own material, thickness and quantity.
04
Setup
+ $75 ex GST ($82.50 incl. GST), once per job
One setup charge for the whole job. It is not charged per part, per line or per piece.
05
Job minimum
if parts + setup < $150 ex GST, the job is $150 ex GST ($165 incl. GST)
When parts plus setup come to less than $150 ex GST, a minimum adjustment tops the job up to $150 ex GST, which is $165 including GST. The minimum replaces the lower total; it is never added on top of the setup or the parts, and it applies once per job.
06
GST
+ 10% of the ex-GST total, rounded to the cent
The estimate shows the total excluding GST, the GST, and the total including GST. The large figure is the total including GST.
If the estimator shows an average price per part, it is the whole job total including GST divided by the number
of parts. It is not the cutting price of one part.
Worked examples
Both examples were calculated by the estimator itself, on the current rates, when this page was built. Enter
the same details in the estimator and you will get the same figures.
Example 1
A small job, where the minimum applies
4 × Mounting plates150 × 100 mm with four 10 mm holesMild steel — Grade 250, 3 mm
4 × $1.72$6.88
Estimated job total
$165.00AUD incl. GST
Parts subtotal
$6.88
Job setup (once per job)
$75.00
Minimum job adjustment
$68.12
Total ex GST
$150.00
GST (10%)
$15.00
Estimated total incl. GST
$165.00
Parts plus setup come to $81.88 ex GST, which is under the $150 job minimum, so the minimum applies
instead: the adjustment tops the job up to $150. It is not added on top of the setup.
On these rates, up to 43 of this part would still come to the same $165.00 total.
Example 2
Two parts in one job
8 × Base plates200 × 200 mm with four 14 mm holesMild steel — Grade 250, 6 mm
8 × $7.98$63.84
8 × RingsRing, 100 mm outside and 52 mm inside diameterMild steel — Grade 250, 6 mm
8 × $1.71$13.68
Estimated job total
$167.77AUD incl. GST
Parts subtotal
$77.52
Job setup (once per job)
$75.00
Total ex GST
$152.52
GST (10%)
$15.25
Estimated total incl. GST
$167.77
Parts plus setup come to $152.52 ex GST, which is over the $150 job minimum, so no adjustment applies.
Both part types share one setup charge.
How parts are measured
Simple shapes are measured from their dimensions. Round holes can be added to any of them.
Rectangle
Length × width. The cut is the outline, 2 × (length + width), with one pierce.
Disc
Area of the circle. The cut is its circumference, with one pierce.
Ring
The area between the two circles. Both circles are cut, with two pierces.
Your own cutting details
For other shapes: net area per part in mm², total cut length per part (every outline and hole) and the number of pierces, typically from your CAD software or measured from a DXF on your device.
Round holes. Each hole takes its own area out of the material, adds its circumference to the
cut and adds one pierce. Holes make a part a little cheaper in material and dearer in cutting.
A DXF file. If you have a DXF, the estimator can measure it on your own device: the file is
read in your browser and nothing is uploaded. A drawing it cannot measure reliably is sent for a reviewed
quote instead of being given a guessed price.
These are idealised measurements for estimating. Lead-ins, how parts are nested on the sheet, shared cut lines
and small tabs are not modelled; the formal quote is based on your reviewed drawing.
What is not included
The estimate covers material and cutting for the parts it shows, one setup charge and the job minimum where it
applies, plus GST. It does not include finishing, drawing preparation and other non-cutting operations. If your job needs any of them, ask when you email us.
It also does not confirm that a grade or thickness is available, that a part can be made as drawn, the lead
time, or the tolerance or edge finish for your part. Those are confirmed in the formal quote after we review
your drawing.
We do not deliver, so an estimate has no delivery charge to leave out: parts are collected (see how it works).
When the estimator does not give a price
A price is only ever calculated from complete, valid details and a rate the estimator actually has. There is no nearest-thickness guess and no zero-cost fallback. A part is not priced online when:
it is bigger than the machine’s nominal 3000 × 1500 mm work area in both orientations (or, for your own cutting details, has more net area than the whole work area);
the material, grade or thickness is not in the estimator’s list (see materials);
an entry is incomplete or impossible, such as a ring whose inside diameter is not smaller than its outside, or holes that would use up the whole part.
A part like that is marked as needing a reviewed quote, and the job total waits until it is fixed or removed, so
you never see a total that leaves a part out. Email us the drawing and we will quote it.
Some priced parts carry a note: very large parts, parts with a lot of empty space inside their outline, holes
smaller than the plate thickness and thin ring walls. A note never changes the price; it flags what we check
when we review the drawing.
Rates
The estimator uses published selling rates for each grade and thickness. The current rates are dated
12 August 2026. Each estimate records the version of the rates it used, and the summary you
email includes it, so we can see exactly which rates your figures came from.
Rates can change, and an estimate does not hold a price for any period. Your formal quote states its own price
and how long it is valid. The rates version is xl-rates-8b3bfa04-inherited-v1.
Sending an estimate
Email this estimate opens a new message in your own email app with a summary of your parts and the
totals. Nothing is sent until you press Send, and nothing is attached for you: add your drawing to the email
yourself. If your email app does not open, copy the summary and paste it into any email.
Send a quick enquiry sends the same summary with your name, reply email and a short message as text,
through the website's enquiry form. It has no file upload: email your drawing separately.
The summary carries a reference so we can match your enquiry to your emails. It is not a quote number and it
does not hold a price.
