Plywood Cut Calculator & Cut List Optimizer

Plywood has grain direction. The face veneer runs along the long axis of a 4×8 sheet. Side panels of cabinets should run grain top-to-bottom for visual continuity. Shelves and bottoms can be oriented either way because they're hidden or non-grain-critical.

The optimizer needs to know which pieces are grain-locked (can't rotate 90°) and which are rotation-free. EZNESTING handles this per-piece — flag a piece as grain-locked and the algorithm keeps its long axis aligned with the sheet's long axis.

Most free cut list calculators treat every piece as freely rotatable. That gives you a tighter-looking layout on screen and a visually mismatched cabinet in the shop.

A typical kitchen cabinet batch in 3/4" plywood:

• 12 sides @ 23" × 30"
• 6 bottoms @ 22" × 23"
• 6 backs @ 23" × 29"
• 6 shelves @ 22" × 22"

Area math says 3.95 sheets: 18,222 sq in of parts ÷ 4,608 sq in per 4×8. Buy four and you come up short. Run through EZNESTING with a ⅛" kerf, the list needs 5 sheets at 79.1% yield. Four sheets pack at 87–90%, and the fifth holds the last few parts at 42%. The reason is width: 23"-wide parts only go two across a 48" sheet, leaving a 1⅞" strip on every sheet that no part can use.

Locking rotation on every part (grain running the 96" way) gives the same 5 sheets on this list, because the parts are close to square. That isn't a rule. On lists with long, narrow parts, a grain lock can cost a whole sheet. Run the job both ways and compare. The calculator above is pre-filled with this list, so you can change a size and watch the count move.

Standard table saw or panel saw kerf is 1/8" (3.175mm). A track saw with a thin-kerf blade is closer to 5/64" (2mm). CNC routers use bit diameter, typically 1/4" (6.35mm) or 3/8" (9.5mm), which is much wider than a saw kerf.

Set the kerf in EZNESTING and the optimizer leaves space between adjacent pieces in the layout. Setting kerf to zero looks like better utilization on screen but the cut pieces won't fit — every cut removes material the optimizer didn't account for.

Rule of thumb: measure your blade or bit rather than guessing. A miscounted kerf on a 12-piece cut list compounds.

EZNESTING tracks which edges of each piece need banding (left, right, top, bottom). When you export, you get the total linear length of edge tape needed for the job.

For a 10-cabinet kitchen, that's typically 80-120 linear feet of edge tape. Order it ahead of time instead of mid-project. Edge banding suppliers often ship same-day for standard PVC and ABS, but if you need pre-glued PUR or wood veneer, lead times stretch to a week.

For cabinet ends that meet a wall, you only need to band the front edge — track that on a per-piece basis instead of banding every cut piece by default.

Most cabinet design tools — CutList Plus, SketchUp Cutlist plugins, custom spreadsheets — export a parts list. EZNESTING reads CSV and Excel directly with smart column mapping: it auto-detects columns for length, width, quantity, label, and edge banding flags.

Set up the mapping once and the next job's a 30-second upload. The optimizer handles unit detection (inches vs. millimeters) and fractional inch notation like 24 1/2.

If you're still doing this in a spreadsheet, the how to import Excel and CSV cut lists guide walks through the conversion.