Honorable Mention: Google Sketchup, Metal Procurement

Google Sketchup is a phenomenal service.  I would love to have dynamic parts in the free version, but I suppose I will survive.  I use it by making geometric shapes (mostly quadrilaterals) and grouping them together.

My plan

The great thing about Sketchup is all of the measurements!  So I can essentially break down various items and figure out what kind of material I need to assemble.  (I did this manually though for the most part, there is probably a way to do it automatically)

With the list of items needed I was then able to make a material list for the various components.

Which I can organize by size

.

And then make a cut list.