Sheet 1
66% yield · 4 parts
Cut list — 7 cuts
Worth keeping
- 27 3/4 × 23 1/4″
- 28 3/4 × 22″
Cut list optimizer
Lay your parts out on a sheet and get the cuts in the order you make them. Every cut runs the full width of the piece, so the plan works on a table saw.
Parts
Sheet and blade96 × 48" sheet · 1/8" kerf · 0" trim
in
in
in
= 0.125"
in
Off all four sides
2 sheets
58% of the material ends up in parts
Sheet 2
50% yield · 6 parts
Cut list — 9 cuts
Worth keeping
- 96 × 10 7/8″
- 35 3/4 × 23 1/4″
- 28 3/4 × 6 3/4″
- 28 3/4 × 6 3/4″
Where to buy this
- 2 sheets at 96" × 48"Home DepotLowe's
One material at a time, so this is the count for the sheet size above. Buy the offcut-friendly extra now rather than matching a sheet later.
Plain search links, nothing sponsored. Prices and stock are the shop's, and a local lumberyard will usually beat both on solid stock.
Worked example: a cabinet carcase, 10 parts
A four-drawer cabinet carcase — 10 parts in 5 sizes — lays out on two sheets of 96" × 48" plywood at a 1/8" kerf, and 58% of the material ends up in parts.
Every part keeps its grain direction except the ones marked free to turn, and each sheet comes with its cuts in order. The parts:
- Side
- 2 × 30" × 23 1/4"
- Top
- 1 × 34" × 23 1/4"
- Bottom
- 1 × 34" × 23 1/4"
- Shelf
- 2 × 33 1/2" × 22"
- Drawer front
- 4 × 33 1/2" × 6 3/4"
These are the figures the calculator above opens on. Change any field and it works the same problem for your numbers.
About cutting sheet goods
- What is a kerf and why does it matter?
- The kerf is the width of the slot your blade removes, usually 1/8" on a table saw and 1/16" or less on a track saw or bandsaw. Every cut destroys that much material, so a sheet does not yield two 24" halves from 48" — it yields 24" and 23 7/8". Over a dozen cuts that adds up to a part that does not fit.
- Why does this only produce straight cuts all the way across?
- Because a table saw cannot do anything else. Cuts that stop partway through a sheet — the kind that let a packing algorithm interlock parts like a jigsaw — need a CNC router. These are guillotine cuts, meaning every cut splits one piece into two, which is what makes the plan followable with the tools most shops have.
- What does locking the grain do?
- It stops the optimizer rotating that part 90°. On veneered plywood the grain runs the length of the sheet, so a rotated door or drawer front takes stain differently and reads as a visibly different colour next to its neighbours. Locking the grain costs you some yield and saves you a re-cut.
- Should I trim the factory edges?
- Usually yes. Sheet goods get handled hard and the outer half-inch is often dinged, out of square, or both. Setting a trim allowance of 1/4" to 1/2" takes that off all four sides before anything is laid out, so your parts come from material you have actually checked.
- Is the layout the best one possible?
- No, and nothing practical is. Optimal 2D bin packing is NP-hard, so this uses a good heuristic: parts sorted longest-edge-first, placed into the free space that leaves the least behind, with both split directions tried on every sheet. Expect it to land within a few percent of the best achievable yield and to beat laying it out by eye.
You might also need
- Drawer boxesBox sizes and a cut list from the opening, with the slide clearances rounded the way that still fits.
- Board foot calculatorHow much lumber to buy for a finished piece, what it will cost, and what to ask for at the yard.
- Weight calculatorWhat a board or a stack of sheet goods weighs — for shelf brackets, a car boot, or a freight quote.
- Sheet layout calculatorHow many same-size panels fit on a sheet of plywood in a plain grid, turned 90° if that fits more.