Sheet layout calculator
Enter a sheet size and one panel size. This grids out how many identical panels fit, with the kerf charged between cuts — for a mixed list of different-sized parts, use the cut list optimizer instead.
Advanced settings48×96" sheet · 1/8" kerf
= 0.125"
One sheet yields
9panels
Grid
3 × 3
Orientation
12" × 24"
What's left over
- Strip along the width
- 11 3/4"
- Strip along the height
- 23 3/4"
- The other orientation1 × 7, worse — this is why rotation was picked
- 7 panels
Where to buy this
- One 48×96" sheet — 9 partsHome DepotLowe's
How many sheets you need depends on how many parts you are after; this is what one sheet yields.
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: 12" × 24" panels from a 48" × 96" sheet
A 48" × 96" sheet cut into 12" × 24" panels at a 1/8" kerf yields 9 panels, a grid of 3 × 3.
That leaves strips of 11 3/4" along the width and 23 3/4" along the height. The other way round the grid is 1 × 7, only 7 panels.
- Panels per sheet
- 9
- Grid
- 3 × 3
- Strip along the width
- 11 3/4"
- Strip along the height
- 23 3/4"
These are the figures the calculator above opens on. Change any field and it works the same problem for your numbers.
About laying out same-size panels
- How many same-size panels fit on a sheet of plywood?
- Divide the sheet's width by the panel's width plus a kerf, do the same for height, and multiply the two counts — that's a plain grid, not a mixed layout. The kerf is the part to be careful with: a 4x8 sheet looks like 32 pieces of 12" square, but at a 1/8" blade only three fit across 48" and seven down 96", so it yields 21. Take the panel to 11 7/8" and the full 4 × 8 grid fits with a kerf between every cut.
- Why isn't this the same as the cut list optimizer?
- The optimizer lays out a mixed list of different-sized parts with a full bin-packing algorithm, which is the right tool once your parts aren't all the same size. This is the simpler and much more common question — one size, how many fit — answered with a grid instead of a packing search.
- Should I let it rotate the panel?
- Turn rotation on and it checks the panel both ways and keeps whichever grid yields more, which matters most when the panel is far from square. It only compares the two uniform grids, though — a genuinely mixed orientation layout, with some panels upright and some on their side, needs the cut list optimizer.