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Cut list guides
Plain-English how-tos for planning and cutting sheet goods and lumber, illustrated with layouts from the optimizer.
- How to Make a Cut List, From Drawing to Cutting DiagramTurn a project drawing into an accurate cut list: name each part, add joinery and edging allowances, mark grain, then lay the parts out on sheets and boards.
- Saw Kerf: The Material Every Cut TakesWhat saw kerf is, typical kerf for table, circular, track, band and CNC saws, how to measure your own blade, and why a kerf of zero gives you wrong layouts.
- Plywood Grain Direction: What to Lock and What to Let RotateWhich way plywood grain runs, which parts need it locked and which can rotate, and how grain direction changes the number of sheets your cut list needs.
- How to Break Down a Full Sheet of PlywoodBreak down a 4x8 sheet of plywood safely: support, rip and crosscut order, through-cuts, reference edges, tear-out control and a numbered cut sequence.
- Board Feet: How Lumber Volume Is Measured and PricedCalculate board feet for hardwood and softwood, learn what 4/4 and 8/4 mean, see worked examples and metric conversions, and estimate how much to buy.
- Plywood Sizes and Thicknesses: What You Actually GetStandard plywood, MDF and Baltic birch sheet sizes in inches and mm, nominal versus actual thickness, and how sheet size changes the yield of a cut list.