Tools you might need next
Calculate wood shrinkage from moisture content changes. Find dimensional change across radial, tangential, and longitudinal grain for common lumber species.
Calculate dovetail joint pin and tail spacing, slope angle, and layout dimensions. Plan half-blind or through dovetails for drawers and boxes.
Calculate lumber weight from board dimensions, wood species density, and moisture content. Estimate load for hauling, shelving, and freight shipping.
Standard sheets are 48×96 inches (1220×2440 mm). Subtract blade kerf (typically 1/8 inch / 3 mm) from each cut to ensure parts fit after sawing.
Usable width = Sheet width − (N_cuts × Kerf)Parts are sorted by largest area first, then placed on the current sheet using a guillotine (straight-cut) layout. When a part does not fit, a new sheet is opened.
When grain direction matters (veneer face, structural rating), parts are restricted from rotating 90°. The optimizer tries both orientations when rotation is allowed and picks the layout with fewer sheets.
Updated: July 2026
Twelve parts from 3/4-inch birch plywood: four 24×30 sides, four 11.25×30 shelves, two 23.25×34 backs. Optimizer fits on two sheets with 12% waste vs three sheets with manual layout.
Eighteen drawer bottoms at 18×22 inches from 1/2-inch plywood. Three sheets yield all 18 parts with two leftover strips suitable for drawer dividers.
Combining shelf parts, a desk top, and side panels of different sizes. Optimizer nests small parts into cutoffs from larger pieces to reduce total sheets from five to four.
Parts are sized to final dimensions; kerf is handled by the optimizer between cuts. Do not manually add kerf to each part or layouts will be oversized and parts will not fit.
Birch and oak plywood have face veneer grain that must run vertically on cabinet doors and horizontally on shelves per design. Lock grain direction even if it costs an extra sheet.
Efficient plywood cutting saves money and reduces waste on every project. Enter your part list with dimensions and quantities, and this optimizer arranges cuts on standard 4×8 (or custom) sheets using guillotine-cut layouts to maximize yield.