Cabinet Cut List Calculator: Turn a Box Count Into a Sheet Count
Updated
Standard kitchen cabinets run 34½" tall × 24" deep for base cabinets and 12" deep at 30, 36, or 42" tall for wall cabinets, with widths sold in 3" increments from 9" to 48" — the sizing convention most North American cabinet lines follow. This calculator takes a cabinet run — however many boxes, whatever widths — and turns it into an exact plywood sheet count and cut plan, instead of the "figure a sheet per box" rule of thumb that either strands you short or buys three extra sheets. Free in your browser, no signup.
Cabinet cut list calculator: four 24" base boxes
Sides, bottoms, stretchers, toe kicks and shelves for four frameless 24" base cabinets in 3/4" plywood. Edit the sizes for your run.
| Part | W | H | Qty | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nesting…
Pick a base cabinet size
Each page below has the full 3/4" parts list for one frameless base cabinet (34½" tall, 23¼" deep sides), nested on a 4x8 sheet by the same engine. The four 24" boxes in the calculator above come out at 3 sheets, 86.5% yield.
- 12" base cabinet1 box uses 49% of a 4x8 sheet
- 15" base cabinet1 box uses 53% of a 4x8 sheet
- 18" base cabinet1 box uses 57% of a 4x8 sheet
- 21" base cabinet1 box uses 61% of a 4x8 sheet
- 24" base cabinet1 box uses 65% of a 4x8 sheet
- 27" base cabinet1 box uses 69% of a 4x8 sheet
- 30" base cabinet1 box uses 73% of a 4x8 sheet
- 33" base cabinet1 box uses 77% of a 4x8 sheet
- 36" base cabinet1 box uses 81% of a 4x8 sheet
- 39" base cabinet1 box uses 85% of a 4x8 sheet
- 42" base cabinet1 box uses 89% of a 4x8 sheet
Standard base and wall cabinet dimensions
The numbers that drive every cabinet box takeoff:
- Base cabinets: 34½" tall (36" with a 1½" countertop), 24" deep, widths from 9" to 48" in 3" steps
- Wall cabinets: 12" deep (some run 13"), 30/36/42" tall for an 8-ft ceiling, same 3" width steps from 9" to 36"
- Tall/pantry cabinets: 24" deep, 84"+ tall, same width convention
Widths in 3" increments exist so a run of boxes lines up on a floor plan without custom filler on every joint — a 12 ft base run can be built from stock widths (say 15+18+21+24+30+36 = 144") with no cabinet needing a custom cut. That's the number this calculator needs from you: your list of box widths, however you've laid them out.
Worked example: a 12-cabinet kitchen run
Take a 12 ft base run (six boxes: 15, 18, 21, 24, 30, 36") plus a 10 ft wall run (six boxes: 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 30"), built as standard frameless boxes — two 3/4" sides, a 3/4" bottom, two 3/4" stretchers in place of a full top on the base boxes (a full top plus bottom on the wall boxes), and a 1/4" plywood back let into a rabbet.
That parts list — 54 pieces of 3/4" plywood (sides, bottoms, tops, stretchers) and 12 pieces of 1/4" plywood (backs) — run through the optimizer on 4×8 sheets with a ⅛" kerf comes back at:
- 3/4" plywood: 6 sheets, 76.8% utilization
- 1/4" plywood: 3 sheets, 56.0% utilization
The 1/4" number is the one worth noticing: back panels are large, single, unrotatable-by-grain rectangles, so they tile worse than the box parts do. If you're running more than one job's worth of backs, nest them together in one project — the low yield on backs alone is exactly the waste a shared sheet count fixes. Change any width in the run and the sheet counts above are wrong immediately — that's the point of running your own list instead of reusing this one.
Frameless vs. face-frame: what changes in the cut list
This example is frameless (European-style) construction, where the box itself is the finished interior — no separate hardwood face frame, so every part above is sheet goods. Face-frame construction adds a solid-wood frame (stiles and rails) glued to the box front, which does two things to the takeoff: the box sides can run a bit narrower since the frame conceals the front edge, and a new lumber cut list appears alongside the sheet-goods one — stiles and rails cut from 1×2 or 1×3 hardwood, sized to each opening.
If your job is face-frame, run the frame stock through the linear cut optimizer as its own material and the box panels through this sheet-mode run as shown above — one project, two materials, same "actual sheets/sticks needed" answer for both.
How to use it
- Open the optimizer in sheet mode — no account needed
- List each cabinet's box parts: 2 sides, a bottom, top or stretchers, and a back, at the dimensions above (adjust for your depth/height/reveal)
- Group 3/4" box parts and 1/4" backs as separate materials so they nest onto their own sheets
- Enter your sheet size (4×8 is the default; note if your yard sells 4×10 or metric sheets)
- Set kerf (⅛" covers most table and panel saws)
- Run it — you get sheets to buy, a cut diagram per sheet, and every offcut listed
The plan prints to PDF for the shop floor, and re-runs instantly if a cabinet width changes.
Related guides
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