Sheet Goods Cut List

Parts → Sheet Layouts → Cut Sequence

Getting Started with the Sheet Goods Cut List

List the parts you need from plywood, MDF or other sheet goods, and this calculator lays them out on as few sheets as it can. You get a diagram of each sheet, the cuts to make in order with a fence setting for each, the offcuts you'll have left, and how many sheets to buy.

How to use it

  1. Set up your stock under Stock on the Parts & Stock tab: the material, sheet size, thickness and price. Untick Grain for MDF, melamine and other stock with no face grain. Leave On Hand blank to buy as many sheets as the job needs, or enter the sheets you have.
  2. List your parts under Parts: finished length and width, how many, and the stock each is Cut From. Length runs with the grain. Untick Match Grain for parts that can turn across the sheet, like hidden stretchers or drawer bottoms. That gives the layout more room to work.
  3. Set up your saw in the sidebar. Choose Rip First for a table saw, or Any Cut for a track saw or panel saw, then enter your blade's Kerf, any Edge Trim for rough factory edges, and the Min Offcut worth keeping. Tick Track Saw Rough Cut to break sheets down oversize with a track saw and cut parts to final size on the table saw: every part is laid out Oversize longer and wider than finished.
  4. Check the totals in the sidebar: sheets, yield, parts placed and cost, with Sheets Needed as a shopping list. Warnings flag parts that are too big, only fit across the grain, or don't fit on the sheets on hand.
  5. Open Sheet Layouts for each sheet's diagram and cut sequence. Sheets with the same layout are shown once. With a rough cut, the fence settings are for the rough sizes, and each sheet's parts list gives both the rough and final sizes. Print them with Print Cut Sheets.
  6. Save your work with Save Project: name it, set its status (Backlog, In progress or Complete) and add notes. Press Save again as you make changes. Projects lists your saved cut lists, and My Projects in the site menu lists every calculator's. Projects are kept in this browser, on this device.
  7. Share with Copy link: the link opens a copy of this cut list for whoever you send it to. Reset starts over with the example cabinet.

Key terms

Rip and crosscut
A rip runs along the sheet's length, with the grain; a crosscut runs across it. Every cut here goes edge to edge across the piece being cut, as a table saw or track saw cuts.
Fence setting
Each cut's distance from the edge of the piece being cut: the part side of the blade. The kerf comes out of the rest of the piece.
Kerf
The width of wood the blade turns to dust, usually 1/8" for a full-kerf table saw blade and 3/32" for a thin-kerf one.
Rough cut
Cutting a part a little oversize, then trimming it to its final size. Breaking a full sheet down with a track saw first makes it easy to handle on a table saw, which cuts the final edges square and to size.
Yield
The share of the sheets' area that ends up as parts.
Offcut and waste
Leftovers at least as wide as Min Offcut are offcuts worth keeping, shown dashed with their size. Narrower ones are waste, shown hatched.

Assumptions

  • Sizes are finished part sizes in inches. Add any allowance for edge banding yourself.
  • A rough cut adds the oversize to each part's length and width, but never makes a part bigger than the trimmed sheet: a part that fits finished but not oversize keeps the sheet edge on that side. The final cuts on the table saw aren't listed.
  • Sheets are taken at their full listed size. Plywood is often a little over or under (and 3/4" plywood is usually 23/32" thick); measure yours if it matters.
  • The layout is a good one, not a proven best: it tries many orders and keeps the one with the fewest sheets, then the biggest offcut, then the fewest cuts.
  • The cost is sheets used × price per sheet, with no tax or delivery.
Open this guide again any time with the Getting Started button.

Parts

Finished sizes in inches; fractions like 23 1/4 work. Length runs with the grain. Untick Match Grain to let a part turn across the sheet.

Stock

The sheet goods to cut from. Leave On Hand blank to buy as many sheets as the job needs, and the price at 0 to skip cost.