Free calculator

Plywood & MDF cut list calculator

List your panels, pick the board size and your blade’s kerf, and the calculator lays them out on the sheets: how many boards to buy, what they cost and where every panel goes.

Cut list calculator for sheet board

Kitchen carcass parts are loaded as an example. Change them to your own job. Untick “Parts can turn” when the grain must run one way.

Watch

How to use this calculator

Why the area sum comes up a sheet short, setting your size, kerf and price, and keeping the grain, in 49 seconds.

Video: How Many Sheets Do I Need? Free Plywood & MDF Calculator

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How to use it

  1. Board size. 8×4 (2440×1220mm) is selected. Tap another size or type your own.
  2. Kerf. Your saw blade’s width, usually about 3–4.5mm on a panel saw and 2–3mm on a track saw. On a CNC router, use the cutter diameter.
  3. Price per board (optional) gives the material cost.
  4. Panels. Finished width, height and quantity. For veneered ply, oak-faced MDF or woodgrain melamine, untick “Parts can turn” so every panel keeps the grain running the same way.
  5. Calculate and you get the board count and every sheet drawn to scale.

Standard board sizes in the UK

Size (mm)Often calledCommon for
2440 × 12208 × 4Plywood, MDF, OSB, hardboard
3050 × 122010 × 4Longer MDF and ply panels
2800 × 2070Full-size MFCMelamine-faced chipboard for kitchens and wardrobes
1220 × 607Quarter sheetMDF and ply cut down at DIY stores

Thicknesses vary by supplier. 18mm is the usual carcass board; 6mm and 9mm are common for backs and drawer bottoms.

Need more than the calculator?

Saw-friendly layouts (Pro)

Guillotine mode keeps every cut edge to edge, the way a panel saw works, and numbers the cuts in order.

Grain per panel (Pro)

Lock the grain on doors and drawer fronts only, and let carcass parts turn to fit.

Labels and cut sheets

Print the cut sheet for the saw, and with Pro a label for every panel so nothing gets mixed up at assembly.

Questions

Straight answers

Enter your panels above and the calculator nests them on the board size you buy. Dividing total area by board area gives a minimum, not an answer; on jobs with big panels it can be a whole board short.
The blade’s tooth width, usually about 3–4.5mm. A scoring blade doesn’t add to it. The kerf guide has figures for other tools.
Yes. Untick “Parts can turn” and no panel is rotated. In the app, Pro can lock the grain on individual panels instead.
Yes, with no sign-up. The layout is worked out in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

Try it on your own job

Free, in your browser, no account. Your cut list stays on your computer.

Open CutNest free → See Pro — £12/month + VAT
Try Free → Pro £12/mo + VAT