Apparently I'm not exactly doing this the optimal way... because 7 x 10 in 1/3 steps is, er, ENOMEMORY. Fantastic.
5 x 8 sticks in half integer steps is best with 4 sticks cut into 2/3 and 4 uncut assembled into 4 lots of 3/5 and 1 of 2/2/2/2 which gives more than 3 stick-parts.
With m and n <= 10 and m<n in half integer steps 12 combinations have a smallest-stick-fragment larger than gcd(m,n); 4 of which are non-integer (5 x7 is the smallest).
I have no idea how to prove whether any given answer could be bested by taking smaller steps other than by trying progressively smaller steps and seeing.
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5 x 8 sticks in half integer steps is best with 4 sticks cut into 2/3 and 4 uncut assembled into 4 lots of 3/5 and 1 of 2/2/2/2 which gives more than 3 stick-parts.
With m and n <= 10 and m<n in half integer steps 12 combinations have a smallest-stick-fragment larger than gcd(m,n); 4 of which are non-integer (5 x7 is the smallest). I have no idea how to prove whether any given answer could be bested by taking smaller steps other than by trying progressively smaller steps and seeing.