How to make a cut list for plywood

A cut list is the list of finished parts you need, with sizes and counts, plus a plan for cutting them from full sheets. This guide builds one for a kitchen base cabinet, then shows what changes when you add a second cabinet, lock the grain, or account for the saw kerf. Every sheet drawing below was produced by the same layout engine as our free cut list tool.

Step 1. List the finished parts

Write every part once with its size and how many you need. Measure the finished size, after any edge banding, not the rough size. Here is a 30 in wide frameless base cabinet in 3/4 in plywood (example sizes, change them to fit your design). The back panel is left out because it is usually thinner material cut from a different sheet.

Use inch fractions straight from your tape, like 23 1/4 or 14 7/8. Converting them to decimals by hand is where most mistakes creep in.

Step 2. Set the sheet, the kerf and the trim

A standard plywood sheet is 96 by 48 in (4 by 8 ft). Many yards sell sheets a little different, so measure yours. The saw kerf is the width of wood the blade turns into dust, commonly 1/8 in for a table saw blade. Every cut removes that much, so a plan that ignores it leaves your last part short. If you square up the factory edges first, also set an edge trim. In these examples the kerf is 1/8 in and the trim is 0.

Step 3. Decide which parts must keep their grain

Plywood face grain runs along the 8 ft side of the sheet. Sides, doors and shelves show their grain, so those parts should keep it running the way you want. Bottoms and stretchers hide behind other parts, so they can turn 90 degrees if that saves material. In the table the first size is the one that runs along the grain. Lock a part and the layout never rotates it.

Step 4. Lay the parts out on the sheet

Doing this by hand means drawing rectangles on graph paper and hoping the cuts are possible. Cuts on a table saw or panel saw go all the way across the piece, so a layout is only useful if every part can be freed by straight edge to edge cuts. The engine only builds layouts of that kind, and tries many orderings of the parts to keep waste down.

For one cabinet it finds a plan on 1 sheet, with 14.2% waste and 12 cuts. The parts total 3952 square inches out of the sheet's 4608.

The first cuts of that plan, in order, are:

1. Vertical cut at 34 1/2 in from the left edge, 48 in long.
2. Horizontal cut at 14 7/8 in from the top edge, 61 3/8 in long.
3. Horizontal cut at 23 1/4 in from the top edge, 34 1/2 in long.
4. Vertical cut at 63 1/8 in from the left edge, 33 in long.
5. Vertical cut at 64 3/8 in from the left edge, 14 7/8 in long.

Positions are measured to the edge of the part you keep. The blade runs on the waste side of the line, which is why the kerf matters.

Example 2. Two cabinets and the grain lock

Double the quantities and the answer depends on the grain rules. With sides, shelf and doors locked and the hidden parts free to turn, the engine needs 2 sheets at 14.2% waste (sheet 1: 14.3%, sheet 2: 14.2%). Lock every part, including the bottoms and stretchers, and the same cabinets need 3 sheets at 42.8% waste. One extra sheet of plywood for a rule that nobody would ever see.

Rotation is not magic either. In our run, letting every part turn gave 3 sheets as well, because the search is a heuristic and does not prove the best possible layout. Lock what must keep its grain, leave the rest free, and compare.

Example 3. What the kerf costs

Three cabinets, same parts, different kerf setting:

With the kerf ignored the plan says 3 sheets. Cut it with a real 1/8 in blade and the parts no longer fit, so you need 4. Finding that out at the saw, with the plywood already cut, is the expensive way.

Check the plan before you cut

• Compare the part count in the plan with your list.
• Look for parts that rotated and make sure none of them show grain.
• Set the kerf to the blade you will actually use.
• Add a few percent for a bad edge, a defect, or a mistake. A plan is the best case.