A cut list is a table of every part in a project: what it is called, how many you need, its finished size, the material it comes from and which way the grain runs. It is the document you shop from, the input for a layout optimizer, and the checklist you hold parts against as they come off the saw. A drawing shows what the project looks like. The cut list says what to cut.
What a cut list contains
Each row describes one kind of part. At a minimum, record:
- Label: a short, unique name such as Side, Shelf or Back. Parts that share a size but go in different places deserve different labels, because you will write the label on each piece.
- Quantity: how many identical pieces.
- Length × width × thickness: the finished dimensions. By convention, length is measured along the grain, so a shelf with its grain running side to side is written 35 × 11, not 11 × 35.
- Material: species or sheet type, plus the thickness you will actually buy.
- Grain: whether the part must keep its grain along its length or may be rotated.
- Notes: joinery, edge treatment, or anything else that makes the cut size differ from the finished size.
A separate cut-size column is worth adding for any part that will be trimmed after glue-up or fitted to an opening.
Work from overall dimensions, not the drawing
Start with the outside height, width and depth, then derive each part from those numbers instead of scaling the drawing. Most part sizes depend on three things: an overall dimension, the thickness of the parts it meets, and the joint between them.
In a case with two sides and fixed shelves, the inside width is the overall width minus both side thicknesses. A shelf that butts between the sides is exactly that inside width. A shelf that sits in dados is longer by the depth of both dados. A back that sits in rabbets is wider by the depth of both rabbets.
Use the measured thickness of your material, not the label. Plywood sold as 3/4 inch is often closer to 23/32 inch (about 18 mm), and the difference adds up across a cabinet. The plywood sizes and thicknesses guide lists typical actual sizes; a pair of calipers settles the question for your own sheets.
Allowances that change part sizes
Joinery
Dados, rabbets, tenons and tongues add length to the part that goes into the joint. A 1/4-inch-deep dado at each end adds 1/2 inch to a shelf. A 1-inch tenon on each end adds 2 inches to a rail. Butt joints, pocket screws and dowelled butt joints add nothing.
Edge banding and solid edging
Iron-on wood veneer banding is thin, often around 0.5 mm, and most people ignore it in the cut list. Thicker PVC or ABS banding of 1 to 2 mm may need to be subtracted on precise work. Solid wood edging always does: to finish a shelf at 11 inches deep with a 1/4-inch hardwood strip on the front, cut the plywood 10 3/4 inches wide.
Parts cut oversize on purpose
Some parts are cut long or wide and trimmed later: edging that gets flush-trimmed, panels squared after glue-up, face frame stiles trimmed flush with the case, and anything scribed to a wall. Give these a cut size, typically 1/2 to 1 inch over finished size, and note the finished size beside it so you optimize the right number.
Clearances
Backs that drop into rabbets, adjustable shelves and drawer boxes need a little room. A common choice is 1/16 inch on a back and 1/8 inch in total on an adjustable shelf. Drawer box sizes depend on the slides, so take them from the slide maker's instructions.
Worked example: a simple plywood bookcase
The bookcase is 72 inches tall, 36 inches wide and 11 1/4 inches deep, built from 3/4-inch plywood with a 1/4-inch plywood back. Five shelves (top, bottom and three fixed shelves) sit in 1/4-inch-deep dados. The back is let into rabbets 1/4 inch wide and 3/8 inch deep along the back edges of the sides, and nailed to the shelves. Front edges get iron-on veneer banding.
To keep the numbers round, the example fixes the inside width at 34 1/2 inches, which is what 3/4-inch sides give in a 36-inch case. If your plywood measures 23/32, keep the 34 1/2-inch inside width and let the outside shrink by about 1/16 inch; the shelf and back sizes stay the same.
| Part | Qty | Material | Size, L × W (in) | Grain | How the size is found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side | 2 | 3/4 plywood | 72 × 11 1/4 | Locked | Overall height × overall depth |
| Shelf | 5 | 3/4 plywood | 35 × 11 | Locked | 34 1/2 inside + 2 × 1/4 dado; 11 1/4 depth − 1/4 back rabbet |
| Back | 1 | 1/4 plywood | 72 × 35 1/4 | Locked | 34 1/2 inside + 2 × 3/8 rabbet; take 1/16 off the width for an easy fit |
| Banding, sides | 2 | Veneer tape | 73 (cut length) | n/a | 72 + 1 inch to trim |
| Banding, shelves | 5 | Veneer tape | 36 (cut length) | n/a | 35 + 1 inch to trim |
The shelves are banded along their full 35-inch length before assembly, and the banding on the sides covers the open ends of the dados.
Group parts by material and thickness
A layout is made one material at a time, so split the list before optimizing. The bookcase gives three groups: seven parts of 3/4-inch plywood, one back of 1/4-inch plywood, and 326 inches (about 27 feet) of banding, counting 2 × 73 plus 5 × 36. If a project mixes sheet goods with solid wood, the solid parts go into a lumber cut list, where boards are optimized by length, and the sheet parts stay on the sheet list.
From cut list to sheet layout
A quick area check is a sensible first test. The seven 3/4-inch parts cover 3,545 square inches (2 × 72 × 11 1/4 plus 5 × 35 × 11), about 77% of the 4,608 square inches in a 4×8 sheet. That suggests one sheet. It is not enough.
With every part's grain locked along the sheet, the sheet has to be ripped into strips about 11 inches wide, and only four fit across 48 inches: 11 1/4 + 11 1/4 + 11 + 11, plus three 1/8-inch kerfs, is 44 7/8 inches. Two strips carry the sides and leave 23 7/8-inch offcuts, too short for a 35-inch shelf. The other two strips hold two shelves each. The fifth shelf has nowhere to go.
The figure shows the optimizer's answer with a 1/8-inch kerf. There are three practical fixes. Buy a second sheet and keep the large offcut for another project. Cut the last shelf from a 2×4-foot project panel (see the 2×4 sheet layouts). Or rotate one shelf so its grain runs front to back, which lets it fit on the first sheet and is fine under paint but obvious under a clear finish. The grain direction guide explains when rotating a part is acceptable. Finding this on paper costs nothing; finding it at the saw costs a trip to the store.
Check the list before you cut
- Add up each chain of dimensions. Two side thicknesses plus the inside width should equal the overall width; shelf depth plus the back rabbet should equal side depth.
- Confirm the grain setting on every visible part.
- Measure your sheets with calipers and correct any thickness that affects a joint.
- Cut one of each part first, test-fit the joint, then cut the rest.
- Write the label and a grain arrow on each part as it comes off the saw.
When the list is ready, enter it in the sheet cut list optimizer with your measured kerf; saw kerf explained covers how to find that number. For a fast sheet count before the list is final, try the plywood calculator, and for a starting point, the bookshelf project has a parts list you can adapt.